Coaching for Education, Career, and Life

Ramp’s Offerings

  • A walkway through a wooded area leading to a body of water.

    Designing Your Future Coaching

    What’s next for you? Do you want more out of your job? Go back to school, perhaps? Maybe Covid urged you to reconsider your life priorities. Ramp offers individual and group-coaching opportunities for making transitions in career, education, and life.

  • Empty Seats in a lecture hall

    High School, College-Age, and Parent Coaching

    Learn more about yourself before, during, or instead of college. Ramp offers comprehensive coaching on the college process, direction-finding and skill-building before or during college, support for alternatives to higher education, and support for parents navigating their student’s transition to emerging adulthood.

  • Wellness Coaching

    Ramp's holistic Wellness Coaching offers a safe, non-judgmental space to explore where you are feeling fulfilled and where you are looking for greater fulfillment in life. You will develop a personalized action plan that articulates your aspirations and goals. Weekly accountability is designed to support you in moving forward in life.  

Selected Testimonials

  • Working with John changed my life. Through our in depth conversations and exercises, I was able to learn more about myself and where I wanted to go in life than I ever had before. I left John with an immense amount of clarity and motivation that helped me make some important decisions I had been stuck on for months. I’m so happy I took the chance to work with him and highly recommended if you are “lost” or just need a little push in the right direction, give him a shot!

    –Designing Your Future Coaching client

  • Thank you, John, for all of your wisdom, suggestions and patience with us.  Through your coaching, our son gained great insight that will prove invaluable for his future.

    –Parent of a Semester for Change client

  • Ramp’s coaching process really opened my eyes to myself. I had been feeling stuck in my career and wasn’t making time to enjoy the people in my life. Life Design helped me reprioritize and strike a better work/life balance. Instead of quitting my job, I took action and voiced what was working and what wasn’t. To my surprise, my team was receptive to the changes I wanted to make. My homelife is also more rich and I’m seeing friends regularly. Looking back, I had been retreating because I was generally dissatisfied. Because I now consistently focus on self-awareness, I stay in a perspective that is helping me grow forward instead if feeling regretful about the way life was going.

    –Designing Your Future client

  • We are forever grateful for having found John. My son did not relate to other college counselors, felt like a number, put into a systematic approach that didn’t work for him. He started talking about a gap year or not going to college at all. When I finally found John, it was a mom’s plea for help. After talking to him, I knew he did things differently. Thank goodness. My son must not have been an easy client initially, but John never gave up. He consistently and persistently got my son to learn about himself. He gained my son’s trust through a process that showed he cared about what my son wanted and what might work for him. Over the months working with John, my son’s confidence grew. His words speak far more loudly than mine. He told me in the midst of this process that John was “fantastic,” “ thoughtful,” and “the real deal.” And yesterday my son signed an agreement to attend a college that a year ago he never dreamed he’d be attending. It’s a culmination that all of us dream of but honestly, more importantly, working with John helped my son find himself again and believe in himself again. That part makes his mom happier than anything else. An understatement to say we highly recommend John!

    –Parent of a College Coaching client

  • After a rough year in college, Semester for Change gave me the tools I needed in order to get back on track and be successful going forward. I applied for Semester for Change on a whim, not knowing exactly what to expect, and I'm so happy I did. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with my John. He guided me through thinking about my next steps with school and my career, while also supporting me in my creative endeavors. Returning to college after Semester for Change, I’ve noticed I feel a lot more comfortable with talking to teachers and asking questions. The program also helped me learn how to change my mindset about school work. I’ve been putting more effort into assignments I normally would deem easy or boring and try to make them more fun by going above and beyond what’s necessarily required. I also feel less anxiety about my future plan because now I know how to plan and replan when I reach set backs. I hope anyone considering this program decides to go through with it because it's truly a worthwhile experience.

    –Semester for Change client

  • As a highly disorganized student who failed for years to correctly identify my objectives in school, John was there to guide me through and help me develop a self awareness of the fact in addition to getting the work done. He’s a great teacher, and an even better man to work with.

    –Semester Success client

  • Hey, John! I just got my final grades back for this semester, A-, A, A, and A! I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done and let you know that you’ve really helped me out this past year.

    –Semester Success client

  • Facing our triplet daughters going through the college application process was very overwhelming and stressful. A recommendation from a friend led us to John Giordano, and we are so grateful! John made the process smooth and so much less stressful. Our children were guided in a way that was scheduled and organized step by step. Aside from the process, the connection was real and thoughtful. The kids felt heard and cared about, and John was truly invested in their path and future. He got to know each of the girls and learned about them and what they were looking for in the college search. He was able to sift out their strengths, weaknesses, and their personalities to find the right schools for them. His wealth of knowledge with the process, colleges, and youth makes him a true gem!

    –Parent of College Coaching clients

  • My Designing Your Future coaching experience with John was a great way to engage with the self and explore my self-determined values. It also highlighted styles of work and education that would suit my personality and values. It has been about a year since I did completed coaching, and since then I’ve started a graduate program in my field of interest. The things I learned working with John have been distilled into my daily routines. The experience helped me show up with more purpose and joy in the things I engage with.

    –Designing Your Future Coaching Client

John Giordano
Julie Bokat

John Giordano, PhD, MFA, ACC, founded Ramp in 2016. He is a certified Co-Active coach (CPCC), a certified Designing Your Life coach, and an IECA Professional Member, the gold standard for educational consultants. John came to coaching and educational consulting after 30 years of college teaching in the visual arts, humanities, and community engagement. He holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies and an MFA in painting. John takes a creative approach to the coaching experience; he sees personal growth and human flourishing as a creative process that everyone can access, regardless of age or background.

John has developed numerous early-college, pre-college, and college-support programs for first-year college students. Because these programs often included built-in support for the college application process, John was inspired to start Ramp as a way to help young people discover how they tick so they get on the right post-secondary pathway. Now Ramp focuses on helping people of all ages find their way forward.

John is a part-time lecturer at the Tufts University Experimental College and a member of the doctoral faculty at Union Institute & University, where he teaches courses in Design Thinking, Visual Culture, and the Creative Process. He also coaches students working on their doctoral dissertations.

Designing Your Future Coaching: Individual and Groups; College Coaching 11th & 12th grades; College Transfer & Returning; Semester for Change; Semester Success; Parent Coaching

Julie Bokat, MFA, AFAA, NASM, Julie is a dedicated coach who is passionate about supporting clients in empowering themselves to feel strong and powerful in both their minds and bodies. Her unique approach that combines personal growth and wellness coaching, goal setting, and habit building.

Julie understands that true empowerment comes from within; her coaching methods are designed to foster self-belief and confidence. Through personalized individual or group sessions, she guides clients on a journey of self-discovery, helping them identify their strengths and overcome any obstacles that may be holding them back.

In addition to focusing on mental and emotional strength, Julie emphasizes the importance of physical wellness. She believes that a strong body is essential for a strong mind and offers tailored fitness and nutrition guidance to help you achieve optimal health.

With Julie's guidance, you can expect to develop a growth mindset, set meaningful achievable goals, and build positive habits that support your overall well-being. Her collaborative and supportive approach ensures that clients feel heard, understood, and empowered throughout their journey.

Whether you are seeking personal growth, improved wellness, a new career direction, or simply want to feel more confident in your own skin Julie is here to help you unlock your true potential. Get ready to embark on a transformative journey toward a stronger mind and body.

Designing Your Future Coaching: Individual and Groups

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