Supervisor Sessions
I want to share something I recently came up with to help me on this new self-employed venture. I am genuinely excited about it and think it might help others, too. We are calling them Supervisor Sessions.
Let me explain…
I started my own consulting and coaching business this past year after being one of many Public Health workers laid off due to federal funding cuts. It has been quite a journey since March 2025. I was fortunate to secure contract work with former colleagues, allowing me to retain some of my projects and stay connected to the work I am passionate about, but it has also been lonely at times.
I have grieved the loss of regular check-ins with a diverse set of colleagues, being part of a team with a shared vision, and having a supervisor for support. I have had to get used to being both boss and employee, IT and HR. As someone with ADHD and anxiety, there have been moments when it all felt overwhelming and I was not sure what to focus on, or what I was working toward.
What has gotten me through the tough parts? Beyond the essential support from my friends, family, and chosen family, I prioritized my physical and mental health through consistent exercise, healthy eating, and therapy. What ultimately tied all of that together, however, was working with a coach.
On and off since 2020, I have been working with my coach, Sabina. She has been with me through career shifts and major relationship changes; she knows me pretty darn well at this point. A few weeks ago, when I was in a particularly rough mental space, I asked for a one-off session. During that session, after explaining how I was feeling lost – and that despite the challenges, I knew I still wanted to continue on this consulting path – Sabina listened with compassion, as she always does. Then she asked a simple yet powerful question: “How can I best support you?”
I started to give the impulsive, reactionary response of “I don’t know.” But then an idea clicked.
What if I hired her to act like my supervisor?
Someone to:
Meet with monthly to externally process ideas.
Help me plan for the future and design a career grounded in my purpose.
Help me slow down and celebrate wins instead of racing to the next thing.
Talk through decisions I am likely overanalyzing.
Sabina loved the idea and came up with the name: Supervisor Sessions.
We had our first session a few weeks ago, and it was exactly what I hoped for. The day before the meeting, Sabina asked me for an agenda, so I drafted one. She then asked how I envisioned time limits for each item. I internally groaned (I struggle with time blindness; time constraints are my worst enemy and greatest friend), but I provided the suggested times, recognizing this was the gentle push I needed.
The day of the meeting, I took myself out to lunch for a change of location and time to reflect. I reviewed my task list from the past month, and in the notes column of my agenda, I wrote bullet points of challenges and potential solutions. During the meeting, sharing it all with Sabina and hearing it reflected back to me made me feel less alone. Frankly, even just the process of taking time to reflect and record my notes left me with more energy and clarity on how I want to move forward.
There will absolutely still be hard times. Times when I question what I am doing, and times when I wonder if I should go back to the relative stability of a full-time job with a steady paycheck (though honestly, is there anything stable about our economy right now?). But at least with this process in place, I know that I have someone helping me externally process my decisions to work through those tough times. Perhaps most importantly, I know I have someone in my corner cheering me on no matter what.
Does any of this resonate with you? I would love to hear about it.
I am sharing the agenda template I created for our meetings in case any other small business owners or solopreneurs find it useful. Feel free to use it and let me know how it goes!
