Joan Mershon

An obstacle is often a stepping stone

Are you feeling lost? overwhelmed? Don't know which way to go?  I can help!

From individuals to businesses, at some point we all face an information problem.  It could be a lack of information or trouble understanding the information that's out there.  It could be that there's too much information or that the information available is conflicting.  Whatever the problem, it gets in the way reaching your goals as a business or individual.

l help individuals and businesses make informed choices about what works — for YOU.  When you get frustrated and wish there was someone to help you with make sense of it all, that's where I step in - getting you straight-forward answers to tricky questions.

~ 90% of services provided are unique to an individual client and situation ~


Phone/SMS: 503.941.0126

http://www.lifeability.net

Oregon Small Business Fair, President Board of Directors
2017 - Current

Portland Area Business Association, Board of Directors
2016-2017

Rental Educators Alliance (REAL)
2003 - 2018

OVRS (Voc-Rehab)
Vendor

Portland Area Rental Owner's Association
Associate Member
2018 - Current

The Landlord Water Cooler
Contributing Author

Rent Well curriculum
Co-Author
Instructor Trainer

Ready-to-Rent curriculum
Certified Instructor



Joan has the ability to make the complicated, simple and understandable. She customizes your options. Then guides you through your choices so that you can make an informed decision for yourself.

... Bruce Huck

Small Business Services

Joan is terrific. Her expertise makes the complicated easy to understand. She always has an easy explanation for the technically challenged that makes sense and eases the way. She makes certain that you understand your options and allows you to select among them without allowing her personal preferences to color your choices. I highly recommend her.

... Robynne Davis

Small Business Services

Joan is fantastic! She really has her finger on the pulse of peoples needs and with her vast network she is sure to have the answers and resources for your"life" needs. Give Joan a call. I do.

... Michael Torres

Small Business Network

I've enjoyed knowing Joan in a professional relationship for a few years now, and admire her compassion for others and her integrity :-)

... Chuck Powers

Business Collaboration

The information given in the class was extremely useful and Joan was great at answering questions and helping people understand the process and overcoming barriers. She was also good at keeping it real with people, making sure they understood that it will take work, time and that this class was not a fix all, but a tool to help them overcome some barriers. Ultimately it is each individuals responsibility to fix their own barriers &/or keep from making the same mistakes in the future. 

... Anonymous

Renter Services

With the help of this class, I had the knowledge to obtain 95% of my deposit back. I have already recommended this class to numerous people.
                

...B.G.

Renter Services

Joan knows her stuff and is wonderful to work with!

... Chazlyn Lovely

Business Collaboration

It's never too late to learn new skills and for a meager price you get clear and concise skill building in a comfortable setting. 

... Oscar Rincones

Individual Services

What makes LifeABILITY different from services that are available for free from a community program?

Because they are just that - Programs.

LifeABILITY was created to be the Un-Program. LifeABILITY does not limit access to services - the only criteria is a desire to work with us. We won’t make you jump through hoops to find answers, rather we will work with you one-on-one to devise and implement an individualized plan of attack. Everything is truly individualized. We offer our services ala carte, so you can decide for your self what fits your needs, your time and your budget.

Programs often package together a bunch of other things you don't want or need, but you still have to get through to get to the part you do need. Programs have rules that limit access to their services. They also  make you jump through hoops to access those services.  Far too often, programs claim to have individual services, but your "individual" program looks suspiciously just like everyone else's program.


Here is an example:  You have a resume, but it is not working as well as you think it should. You want to have a resume professional look it over, and fine tune it.

LifeABILITY -  Step 1)    Make initial contact  Step 2)   Schedule appointment for 1-1 help with resume – often the same week!

Community Program -    Step 1) Make initial contact & sign up for Orientation.  Step 2)  Return next week to attend 1 hr Orientation which explains all the services available.  Step 3) Sign up to meet personal worker.  Step 4) Come back a few days to a week later to meet with personal worker.  Step 5) Get an “individualized plan” which looks remarkably like everyone else’s plan. The plan typically includes attending whole week of classes (2+hr each).  Step 6) After attending several other classes, finally attend a 2hr resume creation class.  Step 7) Now officially "ready" to make appointment for help with resume updating. Step 8) Get help updating resume – approximately a month after the initial phone call. Total time:  4-6 weeks and about 15 hours

LifeABILITY bases everything on Best Practices and National Standards. Instead of going for the latest trendy toy, LifeABILITY has more than 20 years experience working 1-on-1  in the real world - experience which can benefit YOU..  We have also created several programs for local community agencies.

"But aren't the community programs the real experts?" is a question we hear often. People are surprised to learn that in many cases, community programs use entry level staff to monitor their computer labs and assist with job search, resume writing, etc.  In other programs, staff have take on these duties in addition to their normal job duties. Often they are without the training required to have a thorough understanding needed to be effective in a competitive job market. 


One of the things that makes LifeABILITY different is  it is fluff-free.

By making things easy to understand and removing the fluff, the stuff you don't need, we can give you the information you do need in shorter time.

Cancellation policy - 24 hour advance notice by phone, email or SMS is required when cancelling or changing an appointment. Late cancellations, changes and/or missed appointments are subject to a charge of $75.  If the appointment was for an initial 30 minutes free consultation, the free consultation will be forfeited. Standard hourly rates will apply should you decide to reschedule. 

Classes are available only as scheduled.  
Individual appointments may be scheduled - depending on availability.  If you can't find a time here that works for you, please contact me directly and let's see what we can do.

Joan Mershon

An obstacle is often a stepping stone

Simple ~ Straight-forward ~ Solutions

Are you feeling lost? overwhelmed? Don't know which way to go?  I can help!

From individuals to businesses, at some point we all face an information problem.  It could be a lack of information or trouble understanding the information that's out there.  It could be that there's too much information or that the information available is conflicting.  Whatever the problem, it gets in the way reaching your goals as a business or individual.

l help individuals and businesses make informed choices about what works — for YOU.  When you get frustrated and wish there was someone to help you with make sense of it all, that's where I step in - getting you straight-forward answers to tricky questions.

~ 90% of services provided are unique to an individual client and situation ~


Phone/SMS: 503.941.0126

http://www.lifeability.net

Oregon Small Business Fair, President Board of Directors
2017 - Current

Portland Area Business Association, Board of Directors
2016-2017

Rental Educators Alliance (REAL)
2003 - 2018

OVRS (Voc-Rehab)
Vendor

Portland Area Rental Owner's Association
Associate Member
2018 - Current

The Landlord Water Cooler
Contributing Author

Rent Well curriculum
Co-Author
Instructor Trainer

Ready-to-Rent curriculum
Certified Instructor



Services

What Others Are Saying

Joan has the ability to make the complicated, simple and understandable. She customizes your options. Then guides you through your choices so that you can make an informed decision for yourself.

... Bruce Huck

Small Business Services

Joan is terrific. Her expertise makes the complicated easy to understand. She always has an easy explanation for the technically challenged that makes sense and eases the way. She makes certain that you understand your options and allows you to select among them without allowing her personal preferences to color your choices. I highly recommend her.

... Robynne Davis

Small Business Services

Joan is fantastic! She really has her finger on the pulse of peoples needs and with her vast network she is sure to have the answers and resources for your"life" needs. Give Joan a call. I do.

... Michael Torres

Small Business Network

I've enjoyed knowing Joan in a professional relationship for a few years now, and admire her compassion for others and her integrity :-)

... Chuck Powers

Business Collaboration

The information given in the class was extremely useful and Joan was great at answering questions and helping people understand the process and overcoming barriers. She was also good at keeping it real with people, making sure they understood that it will take work, time and that this class was not a fix all, but a tool to help them overcome some barriers. Ultimately it is each individuals responsibility to fix their own barriers &/or keep from making the same mistakes in the future. 

... Anonymous

Renter Services

With the help of this class, I had the knowledge to obtain 95% of my deposit back. I have already recommended this class to numerous people.
                

...B.G.

Renter Services

Joan knows her stuff and is wonderful to work with!

... Chazlyn Lovely

Business Collaboration

It's never too late to learn new skills and for a meager price you get clear and concise skill building in a comfortable setting. 

... Oscar Rincones

Individual Services

FAQ

What makes LifeABILITY different from services that are available for free from a community program?

Because they are just that - Programs.

LifeABILITY was created to be the Un-Program. LifeABILITY does not limit access to services - the only criteria is a desire to work with us. We won’t make you jump through hoops to find answers, rather we will work with you one-on-one to devise and implement an individualized plan of attack. Everything is truly individualized. We offer our services ala carte, so you can decide for your self what fits your needs, your time and your budget.

Programs often package together a bunch of other things you don't want or need, but you still have to get through to get to the part you do need. Programs have rules that limit access to their services. They also  make you jump through hoops to access those services.  Far too often, programs claim to have individual services, but your "individual" program looks suspiciously just like everyone else's program.


Here is an example:  You have a resume, but it is not working as well as you think it should. You want to have a resume professional look it over, and fine tune it.

LifeABILITY -  Step 1)    Make initial contact  Step 2)   Schedule appointment for 1-1 help with resume – often the same week!

Community Program -    Step 1) Make initial contact & sign up for Orientation.  Step 2)  Return next week to attend 1 hr Orientation which explains all the services available.  Step 3) Sign up to meet personal worker.  Step 4) Come back a few days to a week later to meet with personal worker.  Step 5) Get an “individualized plan” which looks remarkably like everyone else’s plan. The plan typically includes attending whole week of classes (2+hr each).  Step 6) After attending several other classes, finally attend a 2hr resume creation class.  Step 7) Now officially "ready" to make appointment for help with resume updating. Step 8) Get help updating resume – approximately a month after the initial phone call. Total time:  4-6 weeks and about 15 hours

LifeABILITY bases everything on Best Practices and National Standards. Instead of going for the latest trendy toy, LifeABILITY has more than 20 years experience working 1-on-1  in the real world - experience which can benefit YOU..  We have also created several programs for local community agencies.

"But aren't the community programs the real experts?" is a question we hear often. People are surprised to learn that in many cases, community programs use entry level staff to monitor their computer labs and assist with job search, resume writing, etc.  In other programs, staff have take on these duties in addition to their normal job duties. Often they are without the training required to have a thorough understanding needed to be effective in a competitive job market. 


One of the things that makes LifeABILITY different is  it is fluff-free.

By making things easy to understand and removing the fluff, the stuff you don't need, we can give you the information you do need in shorter time.

Cancellation policy - 24 hour advance notice by phone, email or SMS is required when cancelling or changing an appointment. Late cancellations, changes and/or missed appointments are subject to a charge of $75.  If the appointment was for an initial 30 minutes free consultation, the free consultation will be forfeited. Standard hourly rates will apply should you decide to reschedule. 

Classes are available only as scheduled.  
Individual appointments may be scheduled - depending on availability.  If you can't find a time here that works for you, please contact me directly and let's see what we can do.