How Alison Eber Went From Classroom Teacher to Starting Her Own Executive Function Coaching Business
- Sean G. McCormick
- Sep 17
- 11 min read
Updated: Sep 24
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Thinking about moving beyond the classroom and wondering if executive function coaching could be the right path?
In this post, Dr. Alison Eber shares her transition from a 15-year career as an award-winning teacher to building her own coaching practice, Building Savvy Learners.
What started as a fascination with executive function strategies in her classroom has grown into a thriving business that now includes group coaching, workshops, and a team of coaches serving over 40 students.
Along the way, Alison completed the certification program at EFCA, which gave her valuable insights, tools, and a supportive community to help her refine her approach and expand her work.
If you’ve ever worried about whether it’s too late to make a big career shift or questioned whether you could step away from the security of teaching, Alison’s story shows how leaning into your expertise, trusting your values, and joining the right community can open doors to a fulfilling new chapter.
What is Alison's Background?
Alison Eber spent over 15 years in the classroom as an award-winning teacher before starting Building Savvy Learners and stepping into her role as an executive function coach.
She’s been featured by the Georgia Department of Education (twice!) for her expertise in writing instruction and digital literacy, and she loves speaking at schools and conferences about technology, executive function, and creative ways to support all kinds of learners.
Alison has a special passion for working with twice-exceptional students and could talk for hours about how the brain works and how challenges like anxiety, ADHD, and autism shape the way students learn.
With her mix of teaching and research experience, she brings both big-picture perspective and practical strategies to help students thrive.
When she’s not coaching, you’ll find Alison at home in Decatur, GA, with her husband and two daughters.
You can check out Alison's EF Coaching practice at buildingsavvylearners.com
And, find Alison on all major social media platforms @buildingsavvylearners
Here is the full interview 👇
1. What inspired you to become an executive function coach?
As a classroom teacher, I was always fascinated by executive function topics.
I found that introducing new strategies and scaffolds to support EF skill development benefited not only the targeted student but also many others.
Those systems often had an added benefit of making my life as a teacher a lot easier.
I led several professional development workshops for other teachers on EF topics, but I had no idea that I could turn it into a career.
When a former colleague asked me if I’d ever consider becoming a coach, I was immediately intrigued by the possibility.
A few days later, Building Savvy Learners was born.
2. What were you doing professionally before becoming an EF coach, and what made you decide it was time to shift into this work?
I taught upper elementary for 15 years.
Much of that time was spent co-teaching inclusion classes full of twice exceptional students who needed different approaches to learning than what would typically be found in a more traditional classroom.
For the last few years of teaching, I was also working on my Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Policy at the University of Georgia.
I was nearly finished with everything except my dissertation when the pandemic occurred.
After a year of teaching virtually and observing that local schools were heading toward more testing and standardization, I decided to take a break from teaching and complete my Ph.D.
Once I was finished, I knew I didn’t like the climate in local schools or higher education, so in 2022, I decided to start my own executive function coaching business.
Many kids felt overwhelmed by school, especially after the pandemic shutdown, and I thought it could be a great opportunity to make a meaningful impact without being tethered to the demands of a school system.
3. What was your biggest hesitation before enrolling in the certification program and how has your perspective changed since?
As with so many things as a new business owner, I was hesitant to make the financial investment in the certification program.
But I have no buyer’s remorse whatsoever.
Even though I already had a growing business, it was incredibly helpful to see how other coaches operate so I could rethink some of my approaches and structures.
The ability to peek behind the curtain of Sean’s coaching business while developing connections with many other coaches through the Skool community has proven invaluable to me as I’ve added new offerings and streamlined the processes behind others.
I’ve really appreciated having a community of colleagues to bounce ideas off of, and if anything, I wish I had found the program earlier in my business.
4. What are some of the biggest benefits and challenges of working with clients in a group coaching format?
Group coaching requires a very different approach from individual coaching, and it has certainly helped me evolve as a coach.
From a benefits perspective, it has helped me organize and improve my lesson design, creating more engaging, hands-on activities that can reach a broader audience.
I’ve become more purposeful about how I use that coaching time, and I’ve built many resources that I can reuse with my individual coaching clients or turn into an online course.
I’ve also built a wider referral network that consistently sends me new clients.
In terms of challenges, however, building the initial group coaching classes is a ton of work, and it’s much harder to build a safe group environment where teens feel comfortable opening up about some of the challenges they experience.
I’ve found this to be especially true for middle schoolers who are still preoccupied with managing their self-image and are reluctant to show vulnerability among their peers.
I’ve worked with plenty of challenging middle school students in individual coaching sessions, but I hadn’t fully considered that peer dynamic when I started group coaching.
It’s given me all new appreciation for middle school teachers!
5. What kind of results have you seen in your group coaching clients, and how has this work impacted your own personal or professional growth?
Group coaching tends to work best when students are already ready to make changes and are simply seeking tools and strategies to facilitate them.
I love seeing students innovate their approaches and grow in confidence as they learn to self-advocate and get better outcomes.
It’s been incredibly rewarding to have students share examples of trying a strategy they’ve learned in coaching and seeing firsthand how it helps them.
Group coaching has prompted me to seek more commonalities among my individual coaching students, enabling me to develop approaches that will benefit a broader range of students.
It has also helped me refine my discovery call questions, allowing me to determine whether the student will be a good fit for group coaching or whether individual coaching might be a better option.
6. What challenges did you face moving from solo work to hiring and leading a team, and how did you navigate that transition?
Initially, the biggest challenge of shifting away from a solo practice was acknowledging my own capacity.
I wanted to help everyone, and it was hard for me to figure out my own limits.
I started having a waitlist, and I decided that I would rather have another coach work with those students than become overstretched and burnt out.
Once I made that decision, I took some time to clarify my values and determine what mattered most to me in adding coaches to my team.
After all, the business had been built on my reputation, and I didn’t want the wrong hire to jeopardize that work.
Once I got clarity on what I was looking for, I reached out to former colleagues who I knew would be a good match.
I’ve been fortunate so far to find amazing people within my network who share my vision and want to join my team.
7. Running a growing practice and managing a team can be overwhelming for many people. How do you set boundaries and delegate effectively to manage your time and energy?
I work hard to develop relationships with the people on my coaching team so that they feel comfortable coming to me for ideas.
One thing that I often tell my coaches is that my default is to presume knowledge, and I don’t want to micromanage them.
I love the parts of my job that require reading and research, and I (sometimes mistakenly) assume that others do, too.
If my coaches are working with students and aren’t asking me for strategies or support, I interpret that as meaning they’ve got things under control.
But if they’re hitting roadblocks or challenges they’re not sure how to handle, I’ll be happy to bounce ideas off of them or direct them toward specific resources.
Few things bring me greater joy than nerding out with colleagues about executive function topics.
Second, I try to avoid doing the same work twice.
If a colleague asks a question that could apply to future hires or contexts, I either add the Q&A to my growing employee handbook or make a Loom video showing the process for later reference.
Similarly, when I introduce strategies to students – especially ones that I think other students could benefit from – I try to turn the explanation into a handout that can be shared with more families in the future.
It can be time-consuming on the front end, but it has made session notes and coaching much easier over time.
8. What does your business look like today in terms of group offerings, client load, team structure, or hours worked?
This Fall, we’re hosting a limited number of group workshops on Saturday mornings, and we’re in the early stages of developing an online course and membership community.
We have over 40 individual coaching clients, mostly meeting in person at our office in Decatur, Georgia, and these students are distributed among five coaches (including myself).
I’m still running most operations and have the largest client load, so I’m consistently working five days a week – three with students and two focused mostly on administrative, marketing, and resource development.
My other coaches are currently working 2-3 nights a week, but that’s mainly because we have limited office space.
We’re exploring the possibility of moving to a bigger space next year, in which case, we’ll likely expand our offerings.
It’s been a lot of growth in less than four years!
9. What advice would you give to experienced coaches or solo practitioners who are thinking about hiring a team or expanding their offers?
Sometimes, as business owners, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make “the right decision” and figure everything out, but there’s a lot to be said for iterating along the way.
I like to remind myself that no decision has to be permanent.
I can try something new, and if I don’t like it, I can always change my mind.
Just as we teach students to be flexible thinkers, we need to avoid situations where we feel stuck.
If growing a team or expanding your offers allows you to stretch in new directions, there’s no harm in trying.
Yes, you may have to have some hard conversations if things don’t work out with an employee, or you may decide to revise your offerings in the future, but those practices are how we get closer to figuring out what we want to do.
10. What systems, tools, or lessons from the certification and coaching helped you grow your business in a way that felt aligned with your values?
One tool that really felt aligned with my business was the family team meeting.
When I was first getting started, I was apprehensive about meeting with parents. I’ve always found it easier to connect with kids over adults.
But parental support – especially for kids with EF challenges – is instrumental to making the coaching successful.
For more on how to run a family team meeting, check out this video 👇
The family team meeting gave me a predictable framework to support those meetings, and as my confidence in this work has grown, I’ve really looked forward to those opportunities for collaboration.
Another indirect lesson I’ve taken from the certification program is the importance of valuing my knowledge and time.
I think sometimes teachers are bullied into this martyr mentality where we give, give, give without recognizing the value of our expertise.
Sean’s coaching helped me break through my own mental barriers to recognize that I could charge more for my services without losing customers.
I’ve moved past a scarcity mindset to accept that my services may not be for everyone, but the right people will find me.
11. How do you define success today as a coach and business owner, and has that definition changed since you began this journey?
From the start, Building Savvy Learners was built with the philosophy that everyone deserves an opportunity to feel good about themselves and their work.
The learning process should always be a source of empowerment, not shame or stress.
At first, however, I applied that philosophy more to my students than myself or my business.
I want my coaches to find joy in the work, despite the challenges.
For my team, success means that we’re prioritizing personal fulfillment and meaningful work while positively impacting the lives of the families we support and the community at large.
We see learning as an ongoing process for ourselves, so our goals and metrics for success keep evolving, but our values stay the same.
12. What is your tech stack? Tools that are indispensable when running your coaching practice.
My business would not exist without Google Workspace and Zoom, but beyond that, there are several other tools that I could not live without! In no particular order:
Tutorbird has been a game-changer in helping me manage registration, session notes, and billing – especially as the practice has expanded. I can’t imagine how cumbersome it would be to operate my business without it.
Text Expander is a snippet tool that saves me tons of time each week. It allows me to create shortcuts for typing out commonly used blocks of text (e.g., typing a four-letter code can result in a paragraph of text explaining a particular strategy I introduce to students). I use this constantly.
Notion has become my second brain, where I keep notes from everything I read. I love its ability to integrate with apps like Readwise and Instapaper so I can collect and recycle research.
It also allows me to build custom databases, templates, and views for information that I’m commonly collecting.
Notebook.LM by Google has been awesome for sharing information with my employees. I’ve built a custom notebook that pulls in information from my website and key resources on my Google Workspace, and Notebook.LM synthesizes all of that information into an easy-to-digest podcast that explains our overall approach to coaching.
It also allows my coaches to ask questions, and the AI will answer based on the resources I’ve added to the notebook. It’s like a highly specialized ChatGPT built off of my writing and custom resources.
Thank you Alison!
Alison’s journey is a reminder that the skills teachers develop in the classroom such as creativity, adaptability, and a deep knowledge of how students learn translate beautifully into executive function coaching.
With the right support, systems, and community, it is possible to build a business that not only helps students thrive but also gives you the freedom to design a career on your own terms.
You can view Alison's EF Coaching practice at buildingsavvylearners.com
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About Alison
Dr. Alison Eber was an award-winning classroom teacher for over 15 years before founding Building Savvy Learners and becoming an executive function coach.
Featured twice by the Georgia Department of Education as an expert on writing instruction and digital literacy, she presents at schools and conferences on topics related to technology integration, executive function, and subject-specific strategies for differentiation.
She particularly loves working with twice-exceptional students, nerding out over how our brains work and how learning differences such as anxiety disorders, ADHD, and autism can affect that.
Her background as both a teacher and a researcher enables her to see the big picture of the educational landscape and develop customized strategies to help students thrive.
She lives in Decatur, GA, with her husband and two daughters.
She can be reached via her website at https://buildingsavvylearners.com and on all major social media platforms @buildingsavvylearners.