Jeanne May
The Full Story
I'm Jeanne May. I live on Drummond Island in northern Michigan, with my husband, our dog, and a relationship to the water that has shaped much of who I've become.
I've been a teacher, a graduate course instructor, a curriculum designer, a school leader, a wildlife photographer, a small business owner, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend. I've been the one who held it together and the one who didn't know how to anymore. I've spent a lifetime learning, unlearning, and relearning what it actually takes to be steady inside a life.
This work — Steady Life Lab — is the thing that came out of all of that.
How I Got Here
I started teaching in 1995. Within my first year I was being asked to lead — to design curriculum, mentor other teachers, run professional development. I learned early that I cared less about teaching information than about teaching how people change. That question — what actually makes a person shift — has followed me everywhere since.
I went on to get a Master's in Educational Psychology from Michigan State University, and I began doctoral coursework after that. Early in my career I completed the Galileo Leadership Consortium, a two-year leadership development program that shaped how I understand adult learning and human growth. I've stayed connected to Galileo ever since — for the past several years as the 7 Habits trainer for each incoming cohort, and most recently as their Alumni Coordinator. I became a certified national trainer in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (FranklinCovey), working with schools and organizations across the country. I trained as a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming through Robbins-Madanes Training, certified in their Six Human Needs framework, and learned strategic intervention work as a certified life coach.
I taught children and trained adults. I led teams. I raised two kids I love beyond measure. I navigated a marriage that didn't work and a second one that did. I dealt with my body breaking down — IBS, back pain, a tired immune system — and learned that the body knows things the mind hasn't caught up to yet.
Along the way I kept reading and studying. Michael Singer. Brené Brown. Byron Katie. Gabor Maté. Sue Morter. Joe Dispenza. Jonathan Haidt. Tony, Sage, and Mel Robbins. Mandy Morris. Stephen Covey, deeply. Books on the nervous system, on attachment, on how the brain rewires itself, on what suffering actually is and what to do with it.
Slowly, the question I'd been asking my whole career began to answer itself: people don't change by trying harder. They change by changing their relationship to what's already there.
That's what I teach now.
That's what I teach now.
What I Believe
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
Most of us live in our heads and ignore the rest of ourselves — our bodies, our intuition, the quiet signals trying to tell us something. Coming back to ourselves means listening to all of it, not just the part that thinks.
The work is smaller than people think. It's not a new life. It's a different relationship to the one you already have.
The people who feel settled in the middle of a loud world aren't lucky. They've learned something specific, and it can be learned.
Vulnerability isn't weakness — it's the doorway. An open heart is the discipline of staying soft when everything in you wants to armor up. This is harder than it sounds, and more important than anything else I teach.
We don't need to fix ourselves. We need to come home to who we already are.
Training and Credentials
Master of Arts in Educational Psychology, Michigan State University Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Eastern Michigan University
Galileo Leadership Consortium · Alumni Coordinator · 7 Habits Trainer for incoming cohorts Certified National Trainer, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (FranklinCovey) Master Practitioner, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (Robbins-Madanes Training) Certified Six Human Needs Coach (Robbins-Madanes Training) Strategic Intervention Practitioner
Thirty years in education and human development. Workshops, retreats, and programs designed for individuals, leaders, teams, and schools across the country.
About
Steady Life Lab
Steady Life Lab is the practice I built to share this work with people outside of classrooms — through coaching, custom workshops, immersive retreats, and the writing I'm slowly putting into a book.
The legal entity behind Steady Life Lab is EmpowerMay LLC, which I founded as the parent company for my work.
If you're an individual looking to come back to yourself, the retreats and 1:1 work are for you. If you're an organization — a school, a team, a leadership group — the workshops are designed around your specific people and goals. Either way, I'd love to hear from you.
You don't need a different life. You need a way back to yourself.
Let’s Work Together
Get in touch so we can start working together.