Lynn Palazzo, MEd, ACC
With experience coaching over 500 college students and three children of her own, two who are recent college graduates and working young professionals and another a senior in high school headed toward college, Lynn lives, works and breathes college life.
Professionally, Lynn's career spans from Clemson University, Reinhardt College, and then on to Kennesaw State University. She has been a Campus Minister, Director of Student Activities, Director of New Student Orientation, and a college professor. The primary focus of her career has been teaching and coaching first-year students in a course expertly designed to address the major “transition traps” that a student must learn to navigate in order to thrive in college.
Lynn is passionate about helping college students achieve their full potential. She is a lifelong learner committed to supporting each student with skills and interventions that are tailored to their specific needs, targeted to produce consistent, meaningful growth, and tracked for consistency and structure.
As a college advisor, trainer, coach, and professor, she employs her rich portfolio of experience to deliver the skills and strategies that her clients need to persist toward earning a degree. Her education and training include:
ICF Certified ADHD/Executive Function Coach through JST Coaching, one of the founders and active voices of the ADHD coaching movement.
Motivational Interviewing (a clinical technique for behavior change), Intermediate trained, 2023
Master of Education in College and University Administration, University of South Carolina, 1990.
Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (Psychology and Education), University of South Carolina, 1988.
Dr. John Gardner’s First Year Experience Training, the global leader in college student transitions.
VIA Institute’s “Using Character Using Strengths to Engage Employees, Clients, and Students.”
Lynn’s coaching style is high on consistency, motivation, and support. She pairs deep listening, humor, and a personable teaching style to help students define their values and goals and establish personal accountability to help break through the self-imposed limits common for learners with ADHD. What works for most people doesn’t always work for the ADHD mind. Finding what does work is incredibly galvanizing and meaningful for each learner.
Personally, Lynn has parented and coached two adult daughters through college and still has another headed in that direction. She recently celebrated 30 years of marriage with her husband, Rob. She understands the pressure a student faces in this high-stakes game of higher education, the fast-paced landscape of a tech-driven college classroom, and a parent’s perspective on paying tuition while maintaining high hopes for their kids. In other words, she gets it!
Who I Serve
Collegiate Success Coaching serves college students who need support during their transition to college or those who have had academic setbacks. These could be first-year students who are often susceptible to the most common college transition traps; students on academic re-entry plans; students with ADD/ADHD or Executive Function challenges who work best with behavioral interventions; and students who are earning credit hours but are not thriving, moving forward with their goals or getting the most from their college experience. Lynn has worked with students pursuing an array of majors including nursing, engineering, finance, psychology, business, computer science, chemistry, and pre-medicine among others.
What to Expect
Lynn’s coaching sessions are a combination of teaching and coaching, and that sets her apart. She creates a scaffolded experience for clients, teaching earlier in the service period and providing high levels of support, administrative accommodations, and motivation while the client practices using what they have learned. The client then takes progressively more responsibility and accountability toward the middle and end of the partnership. That's different from many academic life coaches who simply coach from session to session without continuity.
Coaching sessions are an energizing combination of:
Exploring and clarifying the client's values and goals
Troubleshooting challenges and creating a plan of action to address them
Learning effective study strategies, time management skills & procrastination avoidance
Practicing resilience and reframing
Preparation and planning
Layering the learning with consistent motivation through the rigors of the college semester