JAAS-Coaching

“Working with Shawn helped me to set goals and priorities for my life.  Through meetings with him I was able to better define these goals and begin taking action towards accomplishing them.  I would highly recommend JAAS Coaching to anyone who is looking to make a change in his life.”

Making things happen for myself is one of the biggest lessons I learned while working with Shawn.   He did not do the work for me, I had to do it for myself and he assisted in helping me clarify my vision. I was sort of feeling depressed when I first starting working with Shawn because I had been fired from a job and my self-esteem was low. I was also 50lbs overweight, which caused me to overly self-critical. It is not like Shawn ever said lose weight, but I did not feel good about myself while 50lbs overweight and he didn’t let me ignore that reality. I am not saying that I didn’t have obstacles along the way, I just learned how to deal with the obstacles for the first time.  I have a new zest for life and I feel so much better about myself and what I am able to accomplish.

I cannot thank JAAS enough for helping  me transcend into living life versus existing. When I began with Shawn I felt that I was broken, and I felt that life was tough. I felt as though I was not enough and I was undeserving of love. I was in denial of who I am. I was in denial of the trauma that my childhood created and as a result I did more harm to myself then I did good. Shawn allowed me to be able to dig deep into my childhood trauma, and the emotions that I felt. By feeling  my emotions, I began to understand that they are connected to God/ the universe and being connected allowed me to be able to understand that my emotions are real, what I experienced in life was real however I can rewrite my script of life and by nurturing my emotions true healing comes. Embarking on this journey of self healing, discovery, and growth, I discovered that I am more than who I thought I was and more capable of living the life that I deserve through manifestation chanting and breath work.

I now know and understand that I am worthy of love. I am worthy of living this life, and I am worthy of everything life has to offer for me and everything that I choose to manifest in my life. I am proud to be a black gay male in society today loving myself, finding true love and loving others. Love and worth is real and I am deserving of it.

Not only did Shawn help me embrace my true self,  he helped me set goals and manifestations of success in my life.  I’m proud to say he has helped me to believe in myself and know that I am living this life experiences not to take but to give.  As a result I opened my own business. I am forever grateful for JAAS COACHING. If you are going through this life and you feel that there is so much more.  If you feel that your childhood emotions are holding you back.  If you feel that there’s so much more to life than where you are.  I heavily encourage you to join JAAS coaching it will ever change your life.

Hi Professor Athanasios,

I hope all is well. I was in your Industry Exploration Class last fall 2013. I am contacting you to thank you for helping me realize my potential, and introducing me to the entrepreneurial side of me that I strive to be! 

Last year this time after being in your class and hearing your story I came to you with an idea I had of throwing my own fashion show, you told me to do it because you saw me as the type of person to take charge and work for myself. You telling me this really stuck to me so I took the steps to make the show happen. I made a Kickstarter account with a goal of raising $2,000 and ended up raising $2,500 towards putting my show together. I reached out to people at FIT which helped me find designers, I made flyers and posted them on model sights such as Model Mayhem then had multiple casting calls which led me to receiving all the models that were used for the show. I found a space in Brooklyn called the Galapagos Art Space in Dumbo, Brooklyn where my event took place on March 28, 2014. The show had an audience of about 200 people which I was extremely proud of being that it was my first event ever. The night was filled with fashion, musical performances, food, vendors, and raffles. I ended up getting Jimmy Choo to donate a $100 raffle prize to my show after numerous letters and phone calls to them. I ended up making almost $3,000 in profit from the show. All my hard work was well paid off. I just wanted to say thank you for inspiring me and showing me that drive and hard work can make anything happen. I've also attached some photos from the event, and I have a recap video on youtube titled "Freedom of Fashion" if you wanted to take a look. Once again, thanks for everything.

I just wanted to thank you for a great semester, but more importantly for positively impacting my life. I began to describe how you and your class influenced me in my speech but I feel as though I didn’t get to explain fully. Very rarely do I leave a class having been changed to the extent that my every day life and thinking is transformed in an enlightening way.  I grew up with health struggles and much anxiety that created fear for loss and failure. I always feared anxiety. Whether you intended to or not, whether it was something specific or not, you personally made me more comfortable with anxiety and trusting in myself. It almost sounds ridiculous that I am claiming in 14 weeks one person changed my outlook on life but I really believe it to be true. You showed me that anxiety is not a bad thing, but a natural and useful thing. Now, I no longer fear it. I take it like a man. It’s okay to be sad sometimes.  Overall your class made me a more satisfied and happy person. I am not only more confident in my public speaking, but in my existence and in my ability to conquer anything. Thank you for this.   I don’t want to belabor everything so I hope you realize the extent to which you positively impacted my life. I will definitely take your class and its lessons with me for years to come.  Again, thanks for everything. Also, thank you for accommodating me with Jewish holidays etc. Whether you know how you did it or not, you helped me, so may you continue to do what you do the way you do it, and may you continue changing the lives of kids.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Some might believe this is a cliche. Truism or not, these lines could not have been more accurate in describing my encounter with Shawn Athanasios and my weekly sessions with him. Not a youngster, in fact quite a few years older than this mentor, I had reached a crossroads in my professional and, in some ways, personal life. A college friend of long ago, who found himself in a similar situation, recommended I contact JAAS Coaching. I did not know what a career coach was. I had all kinds of preconceived ideas. I thought JAAS Coaching would help me get my resume together to transition from my present job of 25 years, which it was clear I was about to lose.

These naive expectations could not have been further from the truth. From the beginning, I would work in weekly sessions that included demanding mental and physical exercises. I would come to understand why I interact with my environment and others as I do. The implicit and then stated goals were nothing short of a full-fledged personal transformation. Things that I vaguely knew to be true were skillfully drawn out of me with great clarity, to examine, but more–to feel. To enlighten. To dream. Shawn was essential in putting me on the path to new dreams, new expectations, new realities. These are not pipe dreams or the meaningless spewings from a smokestack. These new dreams, expectations, and realities are grounded in universal principals.

Since I am not a fast learner, I gradually came to grasp the interconnection between mind and body, and the even less-tangible connection between mind and soul–to find the Real Me; to point this new person in the right direction. Lest this sound like one of those makeover shows on TV, let me emphasize the process is arduous and far from complete. But change, Shawn points out, is not difficult. It is a challenge. My JAAS Coaching sessions changed my views of myself as well as my career path. As William Carlos Williams wrote, “A new world is only a new mind.” Shawn Athanasios is not a cheerleader. A Buddhist, which I was not and am not, Shawn is a vital teacher who works with sensitivity with one’s innermost talents. These are the talents and positive qualities one does not even know are there, even, as in my case, after more than a half-century of living with oneself. A lot of baggage is checked at the door. For me, Shawn and the mission of JAAS Coaching are the best. I plan to sign up for another session.

This course is by far the best, most productive, most engaging, most thought-provoking class I’ve taken in my time at NYU. It has undoubtedly changed the way I not only speak in public, but how I communicate with other people (peers, friends, adults, professors) on a daily basis. The fact that it doesn’t count as a Field of Study class anymore is simply a travesty. When I asked my adviser why it was removed from the list of Field of Study courses, she told me it was because the mission of the Media, Culture, & Communication department is to provide an academic and theoretical understanding of communication, and this class was more focused on developing practical skills. While I did learn how to practically give a good speech in this class, I also learned the cognitive and social causes behind what makes a speech resonate with an audience. If that isn’t academic, I don’t know what is. Put simply, this class is too amazing to be just an elective. I feel like a better person having taken it.

I was introduced to Shawn and JAAS Coaching by a friend and worked with him from August of 2004 till June of 2005.  While I had some ideas about what I wanted to do with my life, Shawn really helped to clarify for myself what my passions are.  From there we were able to create a plan that had these passions as the source of what motivated my goals. Shawn helped me cultivate and get to the source of what was blocking me and my life now is more structured, balanced, and creative than it has ever been.  I learned how to actually make calculated risks in order to get the most out of my choices. After not painting for years, I have created a plan to include a new career, which includes writing children’s books and illustrating them myself.  I have a new job that I love, started dating again and created the possibility of getting married and having children, and lost 35 pounds.  Working with Shawn and JAAS Coaching has given me clarity, direction, and the courage to create my life and be responsible for it no matter what it looks like.

Shawn Athanasios is a life-changing teacher. He didn’t just teach the basic tenets of public speaking, because anyone can do that. He taught me how to find passion within myself and translate that into persuasive, informative, and moving speeches. During a mere semester of seeing Shawn two times a week, even the most timid student was speaking with vigor and confidence. Shawn teaches his students how to be real, how to be successful, and how to give speeches that will be remembered. If you want to learn public speaking, if you want to learn how to be more confident and self-assured, or if you just want to learn how to move people, Shawn Athanasios is your man. I am a better public speaker and person for having taken his class.

“I started coaching sessions with Shawn last year in 2018. At the time, I was unsuccessful in landing internship and job opportunities that I was pursuing to prepare me for graduation. After expressing my frustrations, Shawn gave me his magic advice: meditate and affirm that which I desired. Ok? With slight cynicism, I half-heartedly followed his recommendation. It wouldn’t kill me to try, but I did feel a little ridiculous.

Within the next two weeks after our first session, I was convinced Shawn was a sorcerer. Lucrative internship opportunities started to come into fruition and jobs started calling me in for interviews. What made me the most suspicious of Shawn’s mystical powers was that the opportunities reaching out to me where from employers that I had contacted months prior. The entire situation was uncanny, and I was certain black magic was involved.

Since then, I am mostly confident that Shawn is not actually a magic genie. While my wishes were granted, it was through Shawn helping me awaken the power within myself—no spells and potions included. Through his guidance and support, my sessions with Shawn went beyond career coaching and translated into every aspect of my life, especially in healing the relationship I have with myself. That is the beauty of the work he does. Thatis Shawn’s magic: unlocking the potential we all have in ourselves.

With sincerest gratitude, thank you Shawn.”  

I found out a couple days ago that I got the internship I interviewed for the day after we met to discuss my resume.  They said they were looking for a senior (which I’m not) but that they were all (I met with 4 different people) so impressed with my interviews that they decided I was best for the position.  Thank you for your help, your class taught me a lot of practical interviewing skills.

Professor Athanasios has an obvious love of teaching and his personal investment in both his subject (public speaking) and his students, and the energy he is willing to devote to see his pupils succeed is refreshing. Personally, I have seen a marked growth in my own public speaking skills – both the way I approach the idea of public speaking itself and the execution of speech-making. As one who came into Professor Athanasios’ class considering myself a relatively strong public speaker, I have seen my assumed strengths blossom into something even greater – he has instilled in me the values of passion, true confidence, and commitment to both my speech and my audience – qualities that often slip through the cracks for many speakers capable of giving a “fine” speech. Professor Athanasios has demonstrated his ability to communicate these values to a group of students that is quite diverse in age, interests, and public speaking experience. I very much enjoyed watching the entire group grow further into poised, engaging public speakers. I have no doubt that every student in his class, myself included of course, have finished the course being better for having taken it.”

Shawn Athanasios is part shaman, part fix-it man, and part common sense coach.  When I first met him, I had the raw materials to have a successful Astrology Business, but very little motivation or organization.  It was Shawn’s uncanny mix of intuition and honest, appropriate pressure that helped me to move toward my potential.  It was his personal style of opening me up with the right information at the right time that enabled me to put together a realistic, concretized vision and a practical plan of action for my business and my life. I began with Shawn in January of 2005, by the end of the year, I had an activated Consulting business complete with a website and a client queue of over 20 people.  The road to this goal was not easy.  Life isn’t easy – and frankly, I had a problem with that. By helping me activate my business goals, Shawn affected my life goals.  That is the power of JAAS Coaching’s holistic approach.

“Working with Shawn helped me to set goals and priorities for my life.  Through meetings with him I was able to better define these goals and begin taking action towards accomplishing them.  I would highly recommend JAAS Coaching to anyone who is looking to make a change in his life.”

Making things happen for myself is one of the biggest lessons I learned while working with Shawn.   He did not do the work for me, I had to do it for myself and he assisted in helping me clarify my vision. I was sort of feeling depressed when I first starting working with Shawn because I had been fired from a job and my self-esteem was low. I was also 50lbs overweight, which caused me to overly self-critical. It is not like Shawn ever said lose weight, but I did not feel good about myself while 50lbs overweight and he didn’t let me ignore that reality. I am not saying that I didn’t have obstacles along the way, I just learned how to deal with the obstacles for the first time.  I have a new zest for life and I feel so much better about myself and what I am able to accomplish.