Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeannine Jannot.
Jeannine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After working as a school psychologist and then getting my Ph.D. in child developmental psychology, I spent the next decade raising my kids and working as a parent volunteer. About ten years ago, once my kids were all in school, I was hired to teach psychology and freshman seminar courses at Georgia Perimeter College. Over time I saw how overwhelmed, stressed and unprepared my students were, as well as seeing my own children and their friends struggling. These were bright students, but had poor time management, study skills and habits. They had never been taught these skills or encouraged to put them into practice. It became my passion to help students so I created The Balance Student.
The Balanced Student offers student and parent coaching, adult productivity coaching, and college fundamentals. My motto is Helping Students be Productive and Well and that’s truly why I love doing this work. My goal is to help students meet their personal and academic potentials without becoming paralyzed by stress, anxiety or fear. Education has become a pressure-cooker, high-stakes experience for so many of our students. Without basic skills in the areas of study habits/strategies, time management, organization and goal-setting, it becomes much harder than it needs to be for our students.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Like many entrepreneurs, I am probably my own worst enemy. I once watched a TED Talk where they were sharing the idea of the “curse of knowledge”. It was explained as knowing something so well that you forget that not everyone knows and understands it as you do. I honestly had difficulty accepting my worth because I felt like everyone surely knows this stuff. After many parent education talks and student coaching sessions I began to accept the positive feedback and understand what and how I was making a difference for these families. So I have made headway here, but I’m still uncomfortable with self-promotion and the marketing side of the business.
Another challenge I’ve had is how to describe what I do. It’s a variation on a lot that’s already out there, but very unique due to my extensive background and experience. I know what I’m not…I’m not a tutor, I’m not a therapist and I’m not an educational consultant/planner. I settled on referring to myself as a “coach” because it’s the most accurate description. Just as a child would get coaching to learn a new sport or instrument, I coach the skills associated with success in school. I provide the information, instruction, support and feedback and the student goes off to practice and tweak their new skills.
The Balanced Student – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Balanced Student offers customized coaching to students, parents and adults. My philosophy is to customize my approach to the unique needs of the person sitting in front of me. I think I am known for having very good rapport with students and getting their buy-in to work on the issues they are struggling with. Most often students are being “forced” to see me by a concerned parent, but I can quickly alleviate their concerns and explain how and why our working relationship will benefit them. I approach my clients by giving them insights and understanding to WHY it might be helpful to try something different. With students, I spend time on explaining how their brain functions. Topics include sleep, learning, memory, AD/HD, procrastination, organization, time management and stress.
There are no words to adequately express how I feel when I see a student making positive progress. I just want them to enjoy their adolescence and feel a sense of autonomy and accomplishment. If I ever stop feeling this, I can’t imagine continuing the work. It’s truly a passion for me.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Above all, I value the feedback I receive from the families that I work with. It’s very gratifying to hear from a student from years back or a student client who has been accepted to college and looking forward to their next chapter. I know they are responsible for all of the hard work and dedication that brings them success, but I am overjoyed and honored to be a part of the process.
Contact Info:
- Address: 555 Sun Valley Dr
Suite P-4
Roswell, GA 30076 - Website: www.TheBalancedStudent.com
- Phone: 678-381-1687
- Email: jjannot@peachtreepsychology.com
- Instagram: @TheBalancedStudent
- Facebook: @drjannot
- Twitter: @DrJannotTBS
Image Credit:
Kellie Taylor
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