Meet Your Coach
Katie Cyphers Whittelsey is an experienced life and ADHD coach who specializes in helping overwhelmed women—especially those navigating motherhood and executive functioning challenges—simplify their lives, reset their routines, and reclaim clarity. As the founder of Maiden to Matriarch, Katie is passionate about equipping women with the structure, mindset, and support they need to thrive.
With a coaching approach rooted in compassion, practicality, and neurodiversity awareness, Katie empowers her clients to stop spinning and start building lives that actually work for their brains. Whether her clients are C-suite professionals, new moms, or women in transition, Katie helps them feel in control of their time, confident in their decisions, and aligned with their values.
Katie brings 16 years of experience in educational consulting to her coaching work, which uniquely positions her to support parents as they make decisions around schooling, learning differences, and family dynamics. Her background allows her to coach the whole woman—not just the calendar in front of her—but the emotional, cognitive, and logistical load she’s carrying behind the scenes.
She holds a Master of Science in Theory and Practice in Teacher Education and a Bachelor of Science in Special Education from the University of Tennessee. She’s a certified life coach through Light University with additional training from the Professional Christian Coaching Institute. Katie has also worked with a coach herself for the past eight years, crediting that experience as life-changing—and the inspiration for her own coaching career.
Katie’s work is backed by an extensive track record of leadership and recognition. She has served on the University of Tennessee Dean’s Board of Advisors for the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences and is a former President of the UT Alumni Chapter Board. She served two terms on the National Board of Directors for the Learning Disabilities Association of America and is a Professional Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA). Additional current and past affiliations include the American Psychological Association (APA), the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), the Enrollment Management Association, and the Shepherd Center Society. She has been honored with the UT Alumni Promise Award and the Outstanding Community Advocate Award from the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, and was previously awarded the Vocational Service Award by the Rotary Club of Buckhead.
Katie is the founder of Education Cures, a nonprofit supporting teachers and students in Sierra Leone, and is deeply committed to helping women steward their energy, gifts, and time intentionally. When she’s not coaching, she loves to travel to see her adopted son, Mohamed, and spend time with her two young daughters and husband.
Hilda Holm Cyphers
April 9, 1927 - September 5, 2014
My grandmother Hildee was an incredible matriarch, who earned her title through a lifetime of wisdom, love, and strong leadership. She was a distinguished chair of the membership guild at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, where she spent countless hours advocating for the arts and inspiring the community. Despite her busy schedule, Hildee always made time for her 15 grandchildren, showering us with love, wisdom, and laughter. Like most matriarchs, she was the glue that held the family together. Her legacy lives on through the memories and stories that my family and I share, and our relationship inspired the name of my business, Maiden to Matriarch. Our mission is to empower women to embrace their full potential and become the matriarchs in their own lives - to lead with grace, poise, and confidence, and to make a positive impact on the world around them.
Hildee, thank you for loving and me unconditionally through hard seasons and for all the birthday cakes we made on Jesus’s birthday that continue to remind me that, He is the reason for all the seasons.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, bless these wings (or wheels) we travel on.
