Case Study: How AJ McKay went from Burnout to Belonging – A Journey of Courage, Connection and Coaching

When Amanda Jane McKay (better known as AJ) stood on stage at the One of many® One Woman Conference in May 2025, she admitted it was like no other Sunday morning she’d ever experienced. “I’ve never been trained to speak. I’ve never spoken through a microphone to a room full of people before,” she said with a smile, her hands nervously alive. “I’m autistic. I’m ADHD. I’ve got a chronic exhaustion that comes and goes. And I’m in perimenopause. So quite frankly, anything could happen in the next few minutes.”

But what happened next was pure courage. AJ shared her story.

Back in 2015, AJ was 46, running a successful freelance business as a scientific writer and editor, work she’d been doing for nearly 30 years. She was married to her childhood sweetheart, raising two wonderful daughters, and – on the surface – living the life she’d built so carefully over decades. But inside, she was exhausted. “I felt like I was trying to juggle all the balls – being the best wife, mother, and business owner – and I was failing at every single one of them,” she says. “I didn’t know what was going on. I felt completely lost.”

In 2017, she found her way to One of many®, first through the Wealth Insights workshop, at a time when she was drowning in debt and unable to keep her head above water. “It was a life-changing moment for me,” AJ recalls. “Then I came to the conference in 2018, and it was like nothing I’d ever experienced. The community, the connection. I finally felt like I was part of something. Before that, I felt so alone, so different.”

Through One of many®, AJ discovered the concept of Superwoman, and her disempowering cousins. She learned about needs, how to ask for help, and how to begin prioritizing her own well-being. “The trouble was, I didn’t even know what my needs were,” she says. “I felt completely lost and stuck. I was out of love with the work I was doing, not knowing where I was going.”

AJ’s journey of self-discovery reached a profound turning point when, through supporting her daughter’s mental health challenges, she was herself diagnosed, at the age of 52, as autistic and ADHD. “I literally had no idea,” she says. “It was the most massive shock of my life. But suddenly, everything made sense.”

But step by step, she began to rediscover herself. In 2021, AJ founded Outside the Box, a coaching and mentoring community for neurodivergent adults. She wrote her first program specifically for women like her – women with ADHD who were struggling to keep up in a world not designed for them. “I realised there are so many of us who are undiagnosed, burning out simply because of how our brains work,” she says. “We’re surviving, not thriving.”

Determined to use her lived experience and deep understanding to help others, AJ decided to retrain as a coach. In January 2022, she graduated from the One of many® Coaching Certification program. “I didn’t know exactly what it would look like,” she says, “but I knew I wanted to help other adults who felt stuck, like I had.”

Since then, Outside the Box has flourished. AJ has supported hundreds of neurodivergent adults, expanded her team to include eight associate coaches and two support workers, and even designed a coach training program for other professionals who want to serve this community. Her vision? To change not only individual lives, but also workplaces and society itself. To create a world where everyone, regardless of neurotype, race, gender, or culture, feels like they belong and have the opportunity to thrive.

AJ’s story is a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to rewrite your path. “Before I found One of many®, I didn’t know who I was or what I needed,” she says. “But this community, these tools, they changed everything. I learned to put my own oxygen mask on first, and now I help others do the same.”

If you’re standing where AJ once stood—overwhelmed, lost, and wondering what’s next—know that transformation is possible. The One of many® Coaching Certification could be the invitation you’ve been waiting for: a way to reconnect with your purpose, rediscover your strengths, and step into a role where you can help others, just like AJ has.

Ready to explore what’s possible? Learn more about the One of many® Coaching Certification and how it could open the door to your next chapter.