Transcript (Time-Stamped for Buzzsprout):

Timothy A. Zercher (00:00)
All right, James, thank you so much for joining us today. I appreciate you taking time. I know you stay very, very busy, so I appreciate you taking time this morning.

James Douglas (00:08)
Thank you, thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here.

Timothy A. Zercher (00:09)
Absolutely, absolutely. So first of all, always like to ask our guests, how did you get into behavioral health? It's not a field that most people end up in on accident.

James Douglas (00:19)
So for me, I actually fell in love with psychology my junior year in high school. I had opportunity to transfer schools. I grew up in a Catholic school, majority of my life, transferred to a public school my junior year. And they offered a class, psychology, which was the opening of kind of where I'm at now. And I've always been in love with how the mind works and how behavior has a factor in that.

And I first started off working with youth and teens with behavioral challenges and struggles. And that has led me to work with and be interested in learning more about adults as well and leaders. So that's how I started my journey.

Timothy A. Zercher (00:57)
That's awesome, that's awesome. So you do coach, you still do coach both youth and executives, especially in relation to ADHD. How does your approach change? Because those are very, very different audiences.

James Douglas (01:10)
Yes, I would say for me, I think the number one piece is definitely the connection with the client, whether it's a youth or executive. But with youth, I really focus on them being heard and identifying kind of what they're seeking from that connection and that journey. Because a lot of times with youth, it's obviously the parents are the ones that are seeking the services for their child. So a lot of the things that are worked on or want to be worked on are from the parents. So being able to identify that with the youth, but also open and hearing what they want to work on, what they would like to learn, because that is what's going to be long standing growth.

And in regards to executives, pretty much that same exact piece, but they're kind of more in control and know kind of what they need to work on, what they'd like to achieve.

Timothy A. Zercher (01:59)
Absolutely, sure it's a lot harder to uncover motivations when you're working with younger clients.

James Douglas (02:07)
Yes, my gosh, yes. Try to make it engaging and fun, especially with the younger ones, like sharing my screen and just making learning fun. It's not me sitting there and talking to you about ADHD. It's you really talking about what you're experiencing, how you're feeling, and the behaviors that you would like to adjust and change.

Timothy A. Zercher (02:23)
Absolutely, absolutely. It makes complete sense. So how do you see the conversation around ADHD and mental health evolving in the next several years? I know you've been in this space for a few already.

James Douglas (02:35)
Oh my gosh, think sky's the limit. I'm so grateful that we're talking more about ADHD and mental health in general. And I only see it increasing in time. I think one thing that I would like to see more of is support with youth and also, I guess, organizations with ADHD employees being able to support the students, the teachers, as well as the employees that are living with ADHD — neurodivergence working in a neurotypical workspace.

Timothy A. Zercher (03:09)
So then we always have to ask some of these questions because we are marketing specialists in behavioral health. What is one thing that is working really well for you and your team right now in terms of gaining new clients?

James Douglas (03:21)
I would say for me, I've never had a marketing team, but I would say for me personally is going out into the community and starting there. I really like to start with the people that are closer and building my reputation, building my word of mouth and getting clients that way. So that's been really helpful.

Timothy A. Zercher (03:36)
Yeah, absolutely. Following just the more personal connections.

James Douglas (03:39)
Or sponsoring youth sports, schools, things like that.

Timothy A. Zercher (03:43)
Okay, yeah, that's awesome, that's awesome. And then what's one kind of new marketing tactic or marketing strategy that you're either considering or just watching right now in the marketplace?

James Douglas (03:55)
I would love to have a team, a marketing team, to be able to support me in the things that I'm not strong at. So I could be able to kind of focus on coaching and be able to help more people. So that would be ideal.

Timothy A. Zercher (04:08)
It's a lot easier when you have someone else doing it for you. That is for the angsture. Yeah, that's awesome, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining us, James. We appreciate you coming on. We appreciate the work you're doing and hope we can have you on again sometime.

James Douglas (04:13)
Yes. Awesome, thank you for having me. This was great.