I'm Awesome, and You Can Too!

Here's My Media Bio:
Maybe you've wished that there was some kind of magic wand you could wave and your whole life would be different — in a good way.  Maybe you’ve secretly longed for a Mr. Myagi-type teacher who could smack you over the head (or on the ass) to wake you up to the possibility of the moment.

The truth is, this kind of magic absolutely does exist!  And it’s exactly the kind of magic that Breakthrough Specialist Adrianne Gunn uses to help people quickly release the barriers and baggage that keeps them from fully expressing their genius in their personal, professional and creative lives.
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Whether she’s onstage entertaining crowds, hosting her video podcasts “From the Hip: Conversations in the service of Passion Purpose and Play” and “The Enlightened Couch Potato”, consulting and training multi-passioned entrepreneurs, or doing deep interpersonal work, Adrianne helps people rediscover the truest and fullest version of themselves so they can do the things they are meant to do in the world.

She also loves sad songs, desert sunsets, superhero movies, black tea, burgers and waffle cut sweet potato fries.

Certified Master Practitioner of NLP
Certified Master Practitioner of Hypnosis
Certified Master Practitioner of MER / Timeline Therapy
Certified Quit Smoking Specialist 
IFC Certified Life Coach
BA Marketing & Advertising (Double Major)

But there's an even more
beginninger story...

It’s not really a surprise that I became enthralled with helping others get unstuck.  I was born stuck.  Literally.
I was too big for my mother’s body.  My left shoulder was stuck on my mother’s pubic bone and the doctors were concerned because all the vitals were dropping and either my mother or I was going to die if they didn’t do something quick.  

So they ripped me out with forceps and ended up pulling the nerve endings in my left shoulder.  They broke my wing.  
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No one died that day, but I also didn't move my left arm for the first three years of my life.  I’m told I had a 3 legged crawl.  That’s 3 years of useful wiggling and muscle development and brain stimulation my left arm and I didn’t have. 
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Because of the issues with my left arm, there were many activities that I shouldn’t have been able to do.  I mean, I can’t even turn my left wrist over to scratch my own ass for fuck’s sake! 

But I made up for it.  Overcompensated even.  I worked my ass — and arm — off figuring out how to do the things I wanted to do.  I became a point guard in basketball, a goalie in soccer, a Division 1 tennis player, and a guitar and bass player.  

Not only was I determined to do these activities, I was driven to kick as much ass I could at all of them.  
I creatively (and often painfully) figured it the fuck out. 

20 some odd years ago, I decided to try boxing.  I actually felt called to box.  I loved watching boxing my whole life and always thought of myself as this tough-as-shit, can-do-anything warrior type. 

But when I finally got myself to a boxing class, I couldn’t fucking do it.  I was getting absolutely pummeled on my left side because I couldn’t hold my left arm up to defend myself. The ancient animal in my body was flinching and freaking out every other second. 

It wasn’t that I didn’t know that I should keep my hands up in a defensive position.  It’s that I literally couldn't.  My left arm just would not work that way. 

All of those accomplishments I listed above?   Getting myself to actually be able to do those things was hard.  It is STILL hard.   I play my guitar and I kick ass and people love it, but no one freaking knows how hard I work to make it happen.  How much effort it takes every day just to do simple things, things other people take for granted.  

But boxing?  Boxing kicked MY ass.  

So there I was:  a sweaty, ugly crying, cursing, mess of an Adrianne on my bedroom floor. This was one of the biggest meltdowns I’d had in a long while.  And all because I finally took a boxing class that showed me my weakness.  My limitation.  Again. I thought I’d already overcome all of the sadness and feeling sorry for myself I’d had about my left arm. 

I called my best friend at the time, pacing around the room and complaining about my current situation.  I was tired of being such a positive “do it myself, do it anyway, anything’s fucking possible” poster child. 

I told my friend, “You know what I should do?  I should get a band-aid tattoo on my left arm so that people will know. They will ask me about it and I can tell them and then they will know what I’ve had to overcome.”  

In my emotional state, this was turning into something more than rising above the issue of birth trauma and my disability, which would be badass enough.  It also amplified my other experiences of race, gender and sexuality, family trauma, mental health struggles, and other health challenges…   

“I’m a fucking survivor!  No moment has felt easy, but I’ve always found a way…  People will be so impressed with what I’ve overcome!  Now maybe I’ll get credit for how magnificent I am!”  

(Cue hilarious maniacal laughter)

The funny thing was, while I was exaggerating and joking with my friend about the tattoo, I also knew I was going to get that tattoo.  This was how I was finally able to get off the floor and out of my triggered state. My friend found a way to talk me off the ledge and off the floor. 

And by the time I actually got the tattoo, the WHY I got the tattoo had changed. 
Have you ever been there: writhing on the floor in a moment of utter disappointment, yelling at God, yourself, humanity, traffic signals, or whatever is in the way of accomplishing something you dreamed of? 

You could stay stuck, on the floor, mired in your stories about what is happening to you and why, convinced that nothing else is possible for you.
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Or you could reach out to someone who can remind you of your truest self, and the work you’ve already done to be the kind of person you are.

Everyone has an invisible battle they fight.
Everyone has challenges we know nothing about.
​This is the common truth of humanity.

I tattooed a band-aid on my left arm because I wanted a daily reminder to be gentle with myself, and to see the humanity in others.  I wanted to remember that this shared humanity can be the lifeline that people could reach out for when they find themselves sobbing on the floor and feeling stuck. 

There are life-defining moments and a lot of them happen when life has us on our knees.  We’ve all heard of those people who have accidents, a cancer diagnosis, or a death in the family, and suddenly their priorities and personalities are instantly and forever shifted. 
You don't have to be on your knees or nearly dying to change your life. 

We can stop breaking ourselves with shitty, old-school “forceps” strategies for getting unstuck.  When I was busy being born, they didn’t know better. We have better tools now.

So if you’re feeling stuck…
I want you to know that you can have a life-changing moment right NOW without having to hit rock bottom! 

I’m trained in techniques that allow people to have those life-altering experiences, those massive mental/emotional/spiritual awakenings without having to be punched in the face or knocked on your ass. 
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You can just decide that right now is bad enough, that what you want and who you want to be is reason enough to reach out for help.