Kekezza Reece

Coach & mentor

I was a business mentor and professional photographer when I first became ill. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis stopped me in my tracks and I have spent the last decade learning how to accept my own body and how to adapt the life I want so I can still do the things which bring me joy. I thought it had come out of nowhere, but when I looked back all the signs of burnout where clearly visible.

I spent most of my life on the outside, wired differently and highly sensitive. I had failed where everyone had assumed I’d flourish and struggled with seemingly easy tasks. I was diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in 2006. A difficult childhood, sexual abuse, and then an abusive marriage led me to fall down, and I fell hard.

By 2011 I was struggling with my energy levels, and everything was taking so much more energy and attention that I was burnt out. The doctor diagnosed M.E. and told me to only do the activities I enjoyed, and then build my activities back up again. Impossible for a parent of disabled children, and someone with such an impulse to thrive. By 2013 I was a part time wheelchair user, and my health still wasn’t stabilising.

No one had any answers and the constant boom bust cycle was causing horrendous deterioration of my illness every month.
I was finally diagnosed with combined ADHD, with suspected autism at 43. It was the key as to why I was struggling to manage my M.E. along with why so much of my life felt surreal. I was working so incredibly hard, but not moving forward. I spent the next year on an emotional rollercoaster trying to unpick my memories through the new lens of neurodivergence. So many answers suddenly apparent, yet so few techniques and options to improve without medication.

I can take ADHD meds some of the time, but they tip my body into a sensory overload, and then my M.E. crashes. I needed to find a mix of techniques I could use, that would work with ADHD, Autism, having a chronic illness, and also perimenopause.

These are what I use in my coaching practice. A mix of coaching and mentoring techniques adapted to suit each individual person. I work with each person to adapt to their needs, particularly unpicking late neurodivergent diagnoses, how they affect their life and then to explore their executive functions to see where to adapt, and where to strengthen.