About Bonnie Mincu
You are smart, skilled and talented. But you feel right now that you’re not living up to your full potential.
You’ve learned it’s not a matter of just working harder or trying harder. You are ready to start approaching things differently – but you’re not sure how. You know the cycle of trying and failing, then working harder and feeling overwhelmed. That’s a hard cycle to break out of alone.
I know because I’ve been there.
I’m Bonnie Mincu and I’m a Senior Certified ADHD Coach.
And what I do really well is show ADD / ADHD Adults how to create personal breakthroughs by developing solutions to function at their best.
But I didn’t always know how to do this for myself.
Back when I had worked in corporate management, I didn’t know that I was an adult with ADD.
I had no idea why I got itchy feet after only two years in a job. I did well with fast deadlines, but not so well on follow-through. I had a real problem with consistency and maintaining motivation to do repetitive tasks the same way every time. But working with the constant deadlines in my marketing and consulting careers, there was no time to worry about whether or not I was motivated.
Working on my own was another matter.
After I left corporate to do independent executive coaching, training, and consulting, I found myself floundering.
I procrastinated, avoided my desk, and days went by where I got nothing done at all to build my business. I tried and failed to conquer my bad habits on my own.
Actually, I didn’t realize my problems were a result of bad habits, patterns of behavior, and a lack of systems. I didn’t even know what to try, to change the poor results.
My turning point came when I was diagnosed with ADD. I decided to take a yearlong training program to coach ADD/ADHD Adults, and found my own answers in the process.
What I’ve learned along the way is that everything I had been telling myself I was “supposed to do” was wrong when it came to my own productivity. By trying to follow conventional wisdom (and beating myself up for not being able to), I was going against my own flow.
The ironic thing is that – based on my particular corporate experience– I should have realized how futile that would be.
In my prior career as an Organization Development Consultant, I facilitated a great deal of work process redesign.
And I know three fundamental truths about any process that greatly affect people
Three FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS about PROCESS that DETERMINE YOUR SUCCESS
- If your assumption of what should happen differs from the reality of what does happen, then either the process or your thinking is flawed.
In an organization, there will be extra costs, rework, and wasted effort leading to imperfect results. For an individual with ADD / ADHD, there can be stress, chaos and a sense of shame or failure. - When a hard-working person struggles against a bad process, the process will win.
That means if you’re trying to force yourself to work in a way that goes against your flow, you won’t be able to do your best no matter how hard you try. - Any process improvement needs to be tested for flaws, tweaked and tested again until it works perfectly.
If you sporadically try something once or twice and then give up without knowing why, you’ll never find out what DOES work well for you.
If you struggle with poor work habits and ADD/ADHD traits, you need to redesign your processes.
You need a customized approach, based on understanding what has worked and not worked for you in the past. And you won’t find it in a book.
The good news is, it’s possible to learn new patterns and habits that complement your unique flow. And I’m here to help.
Why My Programs Get Results
Most people would love to find the ultimate source that could give them that perfect advice. Advice on how to succeed, how to be more productive, or simply how NOT to screw up!
But, the solution requires more than simply offering advice. Experience has taught me advice alone never works. Besides, you’ve had people giving you advice all your life, and where’s that landed you? The problem with advice is, if you don’t know HOW to follow it, it’s useless to you.
I have developed a number of strategies, tools, and solutions that provide enormous breakthroughs for ADD/ADHD clients. And I guide you, step-by-step, on how to USE them so that you can reach YOUR personal breakthroughs.
I truly understand what you’re going through, and I have the particular expertise to help you quickly create the kind of customized solutions you need.
Are you ready to end the frustration and overwhelm that’s controlled your life for far too long? Isn’t it time you found a solution that really works for YOU?
Let’s talk. Click here to set up a time with me so we can discuss your biggest challenges, and I can help you get the results you are looking for.
My Background
I started my professional life as an advertising copywriter in my hometown of Chicago. I loved the fast pace and structure of deadlines, but found that I wasn’t able to be creative on demand for 8-10 hours a day.
So I went back to school for my MBA in Marketing. That got me into Fortune 500 brand management and account management for sales promotion agencies. I did a stint as an independent advertising sales rep working from home, and owned a direct mail advertising franchise. After working every end of marketing – and many jobs — I was ready for a new career, but not at all sure of what.
Serendipity and a chance conversation at a party led me to Organization Development (OD), a specialty of consulting that deals with the human side of organizations.
Entry required a Master’s Degree in OD, so back to school I went. My internship position in OD involved working with change management, executive coaching, and redesign at First Chicago, a large financial institution. The company moved me to New York to head up redesign and Training & Development in one of their divisions, helping to bring about a complete transformation of the organization.
I then moved to one of the “Big 5’ consulting firms, where I worked in executive coaching, training and change management consulting for several Fortune 50 clients.
About this time, I had begun oil painting as a serious hobby.
The constant travel of consulting left very little time to paint. So I jumped at the opportunity to be hired as an independent change management consultant for United Airlines. That contract lasted 18 months with weekly flying back and forth from New York to Chicago.
At the end of it, for the first time, I was truly on my own. I picked up some contract work and was becoming known in the New York coaching community as VP of the New York chapter of the International Coaching Federation. But with few clients, no deadlines and no structure, I wasn’t moving forward very rapidly in building a viable coaching practice.
Then, at an International Coaching Federation conference, I attended a workshop for ADD Coaching, thinking I would learn something to help a client whom I suspected was ADD. To my shock, I recognized my own behavior in the handout of “ADD Traits.”
And that realization led to my training in the specialty of ADHD Coaching, and resulted in my starting “Thrive with ADD” in 2001.
Professional Summary
Entrepreneurship (ADHD)
Thrive with ADD – Training & coaching for Adult ADD / ADHD – 2001-present
Senior Certified ADHD Coach
- Developed and deliver extensive membership-based training program, Productivity Pathfinder, with 30-lesson curriculum and live webinars to help ADHD adults achieve self-mastery
- Speaker and presenter – Virtual ADHD Conference, ADD Expo, ADDA Conference and numerous annual online conferences each year
- Created and teaches full-day seminar at New York University – annually 2004-2014
- Wrote/produced Thrive with ADD Self-Coaching Workshop (Workbook/CD’s) 2005
Organization Development – Corporate Consulting / Training/ Executive Coaching:
Worked primarily with Fortune 50 companies 1992 – 2000:
- Employers: First Nat’l Bank of Chicago, Ernst & Young Consulting LLP,
- Clients: AT&T, ABN-Amro, United Airlines, American Express, Anthem Insurance, Loehman’s, Goldman Sachs, The Ken Blanchard Companies / Coaching.com
International Coaching Federation (ICF) – VP New York Chapter 2001-2002
Marketing / Advertising
First career before switching or Organization Development in 1992:
- Employers: Sears, Seagram Distillers, Pillsbury Co.
- Clients: Dole, Kraft Foods, Budget Rent-a-Car
- Franchise Owner – Money Mailer, direct mail advertising
Education
- MA-Organization Development- Loyola University, Chicago
- MBA – Marketing – Northwestern University, Kellogg’s Graduate School of Management
- BA – Communications – University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Graduate of ADDCA (ADD Coaching Academy) & B-Coach (business coaching)
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