How Josephine Isgro Drew on Her Experience as a Mother and Pediatrician to Launch Her EF Coaching Business
- Sean G. McCormick
- Nov 3
- 7 min read
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After nearly a decade as a pediatrician, Josephine Isgro made a courageous decision to step away from medicine to focus on motherhood.
Parenting three children with unique learning differences opened her eyes to how critical executive function skills are for every family and how few practical tools exist to support them.
Combining her professional expertise in child development with her lived experience as a mother, Josephine found a natural bridge into executive function coaching.
In this interview, she shares how the certification program helped her turn that foundation into her EF coaching practice, Focused & Functional LLC.
Her story is one of reinvention, resilience, and rediscovering purpose.
Josephine is proof that it’s never too late to use your skills and lean into your experiences in new, meaningful ways.
What is Josephine's Background?
Josephine Isgro is a certified executive function coach and the founder of Focused & Functional LLC.
Before stepping into EF coaching, she spent years as a pediatric rheumatologist and medical educator.
Now, she helps children strengthen their executive function skills and build real confidence in their abilities.
Inspired by her own journey as a mom of three with unique learning profiles, Josephine combines professional know-how with personal experience to guide families with empathy, clarity, and practical strategies that truly work.
You can check out Josephine's EF Coaching practice at focused-functional.com.
Here is the full interview 👇
1. You made a significant shift from being a pediatrician to an executive function coach. What drew you to this field, and why did this specific program feel like the right fit for your next chapter?
As a pediatrician, I was trained to support the well-being of children and their families, but parenting three young children revealed a significant gap in practical tools—especially when it came to executive functioning.
It quickly became clear that these skills are incredibly valuable in raising children with distinct learning differences, such as dyslexia, ADHD, and executive function challenges.
Struggling to find appropriate support, I decided to take this course to better help my children.
This program felt like the perfect next step because it was self-paced, practical, and welcoming.
I needed tools that I could easily adapt to my family’s needs, and this course provided both the theory and practical application of executive functioning strategies.
2. Coming from your background as a pediatrician, what was the moment or realization that made you say, “It’s time to pivot”?
My path to becoming an executive function coach was anything but linear.
In 2014, after nearly a decade of practicing medicine, I chose to step away to focus on raising my family.
It quickly became clear how essential executive function skills were.
As I saw the positive impact these strategies had in my own home, I began to think:
maybe this is something I could offer to others as well.
3. Did you experience any doubts or imposter syndrome around leaving medicine and entering a new field? How did those feelings evolve as you moved through the program?
I retired from medicine well before transitioning into executive function coaching, but I wrestled with doubt and imposter syndrome.
I didn’t have a teaching degree or a master’s in education or special education—so what made me qualified to do this work?
It took time to find the answer, but ultimately, it was simple: I’m a mother.
A mother of a child with learning differences and executive function challenges.
I know the battles, the worry, the stress—and because of that, I can both empathize and strategize in a deeply meaningful way.
4. What would you say to other professionals who are grappling with identity shifts or imposter syndrome as they consider becoming an EF coach?
I would say:
Trust your internal compass and what feels right to you.
We each bring our own unique perspectives and experiences to this field, and there's room for all of us to find our niche.
5. What gave you the confidence to embrace a new identity as a coach?
I’m fortunate to have a supportive circle of family and friends—especially my husband—who encouraged me to take the leap and start my coaching practice.
They believed in me, even when I didn’t fully believe in myself, and they still do.
6. What was your approach to finding your first paying client? What worked, and what surprised you?
It’s a funny story.
I was at a parents’ association gathering for my children’s school when the conversation shifted to studying and homework.
I started sharing some fun and creative strategies I had been using at home, and one of the other parents took notice.
She asked how I knew all of this, and I shyly whispered that I had just completed my certification and was in the early stages of starting a coaching practice.
We ended up setting a time to meet for coffee—and she became my very first client.
I was both shocked and pleasantly surprised when she said yes to coaching.
Looking back, I think it was my honesty and ability to empathize that really made the difference.
7. What does your coaching practice look like now in terms of how you structure your time, the types of clients you work with, and what your day-to-day looks like?
My practice is unique in that I specialize exclusively in upper elementary and middle school students.
I work in person, traveling to their homes for one-hour sessions on Sundays.
Throughout the week, I provide virtual support and check-ins during afterschool hours.
As you can imagine:
Sundays are spent driving from home to home
Mondays are dedicated to completing session notes and sharing updates with parents
Weekday afternoons are filled with virtual sessions and text check-ins
8. After medicine, you transitioned into being a stay-at-home mom before later transitioning into EF coaching. Which elements of the certification helped you make this leap most effectively?
A mindset shift was key to boosting my confidence — it helped me see I wasn’t starting over, but building on my foundations of being a physician and a mom.
Having clear structures and language to use with students made me feel ready to work right away instead of figuring it out on my own.
Lastly, things like onboarding, scheduling, and pricing gave me a real framework so I could focus on the work itself.
That mix of confidence, structure, and clarity is what made the leap feel doable.
9. Have you faced any unexpected hurdles in building a new career from the ground up, and how did you navigate those?
I’m still building and evolving, but the process of starting a business was, at first, completely foreign—frightening and overwhelming.
It felt like every step was a hurdle, although none of them were unexpected.
Looking back, one coaching methodology from this course really helped me navigate the uncertainty:
“It doesn’t have to be perfect—just get it down.”
That simple mindset shift allowed me to move forward and follow through on everything it took to get my business off the ground.
10. How has EF coaching allowed you to use your strengths in new ways? And what changes have you seen in your clients that affirm your choice?
Executive function coaching has allowed me to use my strengths—particularly my problem-solving skills, medical understanding of child development, and deep empathy as a parent—in entirely new and meaningful ways.
It’s incredibly rewarding to take the skills I honed as a physician and mother and apply them in a more personal, hands-on context, where I can build relationships, tailor strategies, and truly see the day-to-day impact on a child’s life.
11. What is your tech stack? (Tools that are indispensable when running your coaching practice)
My tech stack is actually pretty simple.
I use Google Workspace as the backbone of my business — for scheduling, shared documents, progress notes, and communication with families.
Canva is where I create clean, professional invoices.
For the coaching itself, Quizlet is great for helping students build study strategies and reinforce content in an interactive way.
Wayground (formerly Quizizz) is also a favorite for practicing retrieval and active recall.
And for focus work, I often model the Pomodoro technique in sessions using free apps like Forest, which some students end up using on their own
12. What does success mean to you as an EF coach, and how has that evolved since starting this journey?
As an executive function coach, success means helping a child feel capable, confident, and in control of their own learning.
Early on, I measured success by visible progress—completing tasks, staying organized—but my view has evolved.
Now, I see success in the small, meaningful shifts: when a child starts advocating for themselves, bounces back from a setback, or simply begins to believe in their own abilities.
I've embraced the belief that There's No Place for Perfect—and I help my clients and their families do the same.
Real success is about building resilience, self-awareness, and the confidence to keep moving forward, even when things aren’t perfect.
Thank you Josephine!
Josephine is an inspiring example of what it looks like to take the skills and heart from one career and channel them into an entirely new purpose.
Her unique journey shows how professional expertise as a pediatrician, combined with the insight and empathy gained through motherhood, creates a powerful foundation for executive function coaching and meaningful change in the families she supports.
You can view Josephine's EF Coaching practice at focused-functional.com
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About Josephine
Josephine is a certified Executive Function Coach and founder of Focused & Functional LLC.
A former Pediatric Rheumatologist and medical educator, she now specializes in helping children build the skills and confidence they need to succeed.
Inspired by her own journey raising three diverse children, Josephine blends personal insight with professional expertise to support families with practical, compassionate coaching.