What does a sustainable performance coach do?

A sustainable performance coach helps high-achieving founders and students build systems and strategies for long-term performance without burnout. Ellyn Schinke diagnoses what's actually blocking performance before building anything — because motivation isn't the problem, design is.

What is the Heroics Economy?

The Heroics Economy is when a business only moves when the founder is in crisis mode — running on adrenaline instead of systems. It's a design problem, not a discipline problem. When heroics become the operating strategy, burnout is inevitable.

What is dependence by design in coaching?

Dependence by design is a coaching model built to keep clients paying rather than make them capable. Most coaching containers produce attachment instead of autonomy — the client feels supported inside the container but falls apart the moment they're on their own. Real coaching should make itself less necessary over time, not more.

What is the diagnostic-first methodology?

The diagnostic-first methodology means identifying what's actually blocking performance before building any solution. Most coaches sell generic frameworks to clients they've never assessed. Ellyn Schinke diagnoses the specific constraint first — whether that's a founder's business systems or a student's executive function — and builds the playbook around that.

What is Notion and why does it matter for founders?

Notion is an all-in-one productivity and automation app that can replace multiple disconnected tools in a founder's business. As a Notion Ambassador, Ellyn Schinke builds custom Notion systems for founders who need to get everything out of their head and into a structure that runs without them.

Does Coach Ellyn work with students as well as founders?

Yes. Ellyn Schinke works with both high-achieving founders and high-achieving students. The methodology is the same: diagnose what's blocking performance, build systems that fit how the person actually works, and create a sustainable path to long-term results. For students, this means academic tutoring, SAT and ACT prep, and executive function support.

What is work-life balance and why doesn't it work?

Work-life balance is a cultural frame that treats a structural load problem as a personal character flaw. It fails because it's vague by design — a standard you can never hit. The real model is load vs. resources: when your load exceeds your resources, the answer isn't better habits. It's reduce the load, increase the support, or redesign the system.

COUGSFIRST REFERRALS

Go Cougs! Let’s Make Your Business Easier to Run.

Because only one university could get me to break my branding. 😉

I help founders and growing organizations simplify disconnected technology, fix workflows that depend on memory, and build practical systems their people can actually use.

Whether your operation needs a clear systems roadmap, a custom founder workspace, or ongoing systems leadership, we’ll start by identifying what is creating the friction.

Business Systems + Ops
  
Sustainable Performance Coaching
  
Tutoring + Test Prep

Explore Systems Support →

Looking for tutoring? Start here →

CougsFirst

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If you Stay Ready, You Don't Have to Get Ready

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Leave it All on the Field

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Game on

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CougsFirst 🏈 If you Stay Ready, You Don't Have to Get Ready 🐾 Leave it All on the Field ⚽ Game on 🐾

What I Do

When the Business Works Because You Keep Catching Everything

The follow-up is sitting in someone’s inbox. The SOP could be in Dropbox, Drive, or the other Drive. Your tools do not talk to each other, and recurring work only happens because someone remembers to do it.

The business still technically works. But it requires too much checking, chasing, and holding together behind the scenes.

You do not need another productivity hack or another software subscription. You need someone to look at the whole operation, diagnose what is creating the friction, and build a better system underneath it.

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    Disconnected tools and duplicated work
  
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    Manual workflows and missed follow-ups
  
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    Processes trapped in someone’s head
  
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    Notion workspaces nobody trusts
  
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    Unclear ownership and dropped handoffs
  
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    Technology that isn’t pulling its weight
  
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    Growth that creates more chaos

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The Huddle

$2,500 · One-day systems intensive

You know the business is harder to run than it should be. You need help figuring out why before investing in the wrong solution.

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Pre-Huddle Scouting Report — I review your business, technology, workflows, and recurring breakdowns before we meet.

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Operational diagnostic — We identify where work gets stuck, information gets lost, and too much depends on memory.

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Prioritized systems roadmap — You leave knowing what should stay, change, connect, or be built—and in what order.

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30-day follow-up — We review what has shifted, answer questions, and make small strategic adjustments.

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The Founder Sprint

$1,500/month · Three months

Your backend technically works because you keep catching everything. You are ready for a real operating system—and support making it stick.

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Systems strategy — We diagnose your tools, workflows, responsibilities, and recurring points of friction.

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Custom operating system — Your workspace is built around the business you actually run, not someone else’s template.

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Notion, AI, and automation — We use the right technology to reduce manual work, duplicated effort, and mental load.

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Implementation support — We test, refine, and adjust the system while you begin using it in your real business.

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The Franchise

$2,500/month · Six months

Your organization needs more than another workspace. It needs an ongoing systems partner who can see the whole operation.

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Multi-stakeholder discovery — We learn how the work actually moves across your organization, not only how leadership thinks it moves.

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Technology and workflow strategy — We simplify the tools, handoffs, and processes creating unnecessary friction.

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Shared systems infrastructure — We build clear workspaces, permissions, views, and workflows your people can use.

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Training and ongoing refinement — Your systems evolve as your team uses them and the organization grows.

Learn more about systems support →

Your Systems Architect

Why Ellyn for this?

Because choosing the tool is not the hardest part. Understanding the whole operation is.

Ellyn is a sustainable performance strategist and systems architect with a background in research and education. She was trained to investigate the real problem before recommending a solution—and she brings that same diagnostic precision to your business.

She doesn’t begin with a template or assume everything belongs in Notion. She studies how work actually moves, where people get stuck, what your technology is doing, and what the business is still asking someone to remember.

Then she builds the system around your real workflows, your actual capacity, and the people who need to use it.

As the systems partner behind CougsFirst’s evolving operational infrastructure, Ellyn understands the difference between installing another tool and designing an operation people can actually rely on.

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Research Scientist background
Trained to investigate the cause, test the assumptions, and solve the real problem—not simply treat the visible symptom.

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50+ custom Notion builds
Every system begins with the business and the people running it. Not a template forced onto a situation it was never designed for.

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Experience with founders and growing teams
From a solopreneur holding everything in their head to an organization coordinating multiple people, platforms, events, and revenue streams.
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Virtual or In-Person (Tacoma, WA)
The work can happen fully online or side by side. Either way, you are part of the process and understand the decisions behind what gets built.

Woman sitting on floor surrounded by various baseball caps, holding a beige hat with a blue label, wearing a white cap and green blazer, smiling.

A woman wearing a green athletic tracksuit and white cap sitting on a wooden chair, tossing a soccer ball in the air. She has a basketball under her foot, and an American football and a basketball are on the floor beside her against a black backgroun

Woman sitting on the floor near a window, smiling, with a laptop and a green baseball cap.

What Clients Are Saying

The systems speak For Themselves.

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I've been banging my head against the wall — I feel like I'm drowning. I knew Notion could do what I needed, I just didn't know how.

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Kelsey Knutson

Executive Director, CougsFirst! & Business Coach

Enterprise Build

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I can't say enough about this. This is the first time I feel like I have a sustainable system and plan. I'm so freaking grateful.

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Maleah Gordon

A.New Foot Zone Academy

Systems Audit

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I have a client portal with everything I wanted and all I have to do is implement it. You need her if you use Notion and want much more than simple templates or done yourself.

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Dan Rondeau

Graphic Designer, DJR Designs

Systems Audit

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You've saved my business! I signed up for some SEO schooling and I'm getting SO MUCH MORE than that… you may just save my business! No joke!

MD

Megan Devito

Life & Anxiety Coach

Systems School

Looking for Academic Support?

I also provide private tutoring and academic mentorship for middle-school, high-school, and college students. My work combines subject-area instruction with practical support for planning, executive functioning, test preparation, and the pressure that often comes with high achievement.

Explore Tutoring and Test Preparation →

Quick FAQs

Remove the Friction.

HELL no— but I love a Coug referral and I'll treat you like family. CougsFirst just means you come with a built-in level of trust, which makes the work better for everyone.
Systems work builds the thing — your Notion workspace, your automations, your ops. Coaching (Systems School, BPB, Season Pass) is about the deeper pattern: how you're operating, why it's burning you out, and what needs to change so the system actually holds. Most people start with one and end up needing the other.
Approximately 5th grade through college level — including Digital SAT, ACT, PSAT, AP courses, and college essay + application strategy. I also support executive functioning and learning differences across those ages.
Yes — I’m exclusive to Notion because I truly believe it’s the best app and it feels like it’s a disservice to build elsewhere. Besides, do you want a “spaghetti-at-the-wall” system strategist who will build wherever their client asks? Or do you want someone you truly specializes in and has intimate knowledge of a tool?
It's a real conversation — not a sales pitch. You tell me what you're dealing with, I ask some diagnostic questions, and we figure out what the cleanest next move is. No pressure, no pitch deck.