Anxiety Coaching for Founders, Leaders & High Achievers
The anxiety behind your success got you here. It doesn't have to run you.
I help founders and leaders release the anxiety behind their success without losing their edge, and guide them through the growth that comes after.
Sound familiar?
Does this sound like you?
Some call it pressure. Some call it anxiety. It's driving you. Underneath your success, it never shuts off. But it doesn't have to run you. Shift it, and it can sharpen your edge.
On paper, it's working. Inside, you're running on empty.
Every decision still runs through you, and you can't step away without something slipping.
You've hit the first problem you can't outwork.
Your mind replays the day at 2 a.m. while everyone else sleeps.
Part of you worries that if you let the pressure go, you'll lose the edge that got you here.
There's an answer, and it's not a flaw in you. It's a pattern, the same one that built your success. And patterns can change.
Find your coachHow it works
The Waterfall Method
Most of what you've tried worked on one side. Therapy could understand what's underneath, but it couldn't sit with you in the builder's seat. Business coaching could sit in the builder's seat, but it couldn't follow the pattern to the root.
The Waterfall Method works both sides at once. Picture the pressure behind your success as water behind a dam. It took enormous energy to build, and it takes enormous energy to hold. We release it in four moves.
See it
Name the pattern holding everything in place, and how it runs your leadership and your life.
Shift it
Lighten your load and digest what's been holding you back, a little at a time, so the pressure drops while you stay in control.
Sharpen it
Meet the needs you've been running past and find your genius. Your edge gets sharper, not duller.
Scale it
Rebuild your relationships, your business, and your vision around who you actually are.
The first two moves are the healing. The last two are the growth that comes after.
15 years. 30,000 hours. Clients who stay for a decade.
Where I've spoken and trained
Succeeding on paper, running on empty.
I found myself in constant fight-or-flight mode, even after many years of professional success. At the end of each day I was depleted, stressed, and unable to be fully present for the things that mattered most. Matt has helped me become a better leader for my team, focus on the work that energizes me, and keep operating as a top performer while being a more present husband, father, and community member.
MarkVP of Sales
On the outside, my career was thriving.
For years I had waves of anxiety and unhappiness I couldn’t quite explain. On the outside my career was thriving, but it got to the point where I wasn’t returning phone calls from friends and family. Working with Matt has exceeded every expectation I had. With each passing month I feel more grounded in myself, more connected, and more excited about the man I’m becoming.
AndrewDentist, Nashville, TN
Like a cheat code, but you have to do the work.
Matt challenges you to grow. These aren’t coddling sessions where nothing changes. But he’s caring and without judgment. If you’re a professional trying to get to the next level, Matt’s guidance is like a cheat code, but you have to do the work. I am forever appreciative of the impact Matt has made on my business, my family, and myself.
Dr. RJ BurrOwner, Reach Chiropractic & Alloy Fitness
Stress comes with the territory.
Matt has been a game changer for me. Running a local business is tough, and stress comes with the territory. To keep my drive and love for what I do alive, I’ve turned to Matt’s advice time and again. If you’re looking for a coach to help you grow so you can better serve others, I strongly suggest exploring what Matt has to offer.
Greg StewartOwner, Arc Minute Marketing
More from clients
Unedited, in their own words. Tap to read.
Ways to work together
Individual Coaching
One-on-one coaching with me or one of my coaches, built around your schedule. Go as deep as the work needs to go.
Find your coach →
The Assembly
A small weekly room of founders, never more than eight, that I lead with my senior coach, Chris Freeman. Six months of healing, then six months of growth. Mondays at 10 AM ET on Zoom.
Explore The Assembly →
Speaking
Keynotes and workshops for leadership teams, conferences, and communities, including my flagship talk, Leadership Under Pressure.
Book Matt to speak →
About
About Matt Swartz
Matt Swartz, LMSW, MSSW, is an executive coach and licensed therapist for founders, leaders, and high achievers, based in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan. Over 15 years and more than 30,000 hours, he has helped people release the anxiety behind their success. He helped scale a practice from two clinicians to sixteen and is the creator of the Waterfall Method.
Founders and leaders come to me to release the anxiety behind their success without losing their edge. They stay for the growth that comes after.
I know this work from the inside. For years I used achievement to outrun anxiety, until panic attacks brought that pattern crashing into view. I learned what was underneath it, and I put the energy I'd spent fighting it to use. Today I'm panic-attack free, and building more than I ever thought possible.
I healed, and then I grew. That's the path I walk with every client.
- Licensed therapist (LMSW) · Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW)
- Founder, Evolving Lives
- Host, Evolving on Purpose podcast
- Keynote speaker, Leadership Under Pressure
Free ways to start
The Flow Quiz
Ten minutes. See your strongest foundation, and the one quietly running the show.
Take the quiz →
Evolving on Purpose
Honest conversations about leadership, pressure, and the growth that comes after.
Listen →
The Campfire
A free live gathering every Tuesday at 1 PM ET. Bring what you're carrying, and leave with something you can use.
Register for free →
Your Turning Point
A short guide to the six Foundations of Flow, the framework underneath everything I do.
Get the free guide →Frequently asked questions
What is anxiety coaching for high achievers?
Anxiety coaching for high achievers helps founders, leaders, and high performers release the pressure underneath their success without losing their edge. It works on the pattern driving the anxiety and on how it shows up in your leadership, decisions, and relationships. It's coaching, not therapy or medical treatment.
What's the difference between coaching and therapy?
Therapy treats mental health conditions. Coaching works with people who are functioning well and want to change the patterns behind how they lead and live. Matt is also a licensed therapist, so if what you need is therapy, he'll tell you and point you to the right care.
Who do you work with?
Mostly founders, entrepreneurs, and business owners running established companies, along with leaders, doctors, lawyers, financial professionals, sales leaders, and other high achievers whose success looks good on paper but costs too much on the inside.
Will I lose my edge?
No. Clients keep their drive and lose the weight. Most find their edge gets sharper, because the energy they spent holding everything together goes back into their work and their life.
What does a session look like?
We often start with something real on your desk this week, like a hire, a hard conversation, or a deal, and work it the way a business coach would. When the pattern shows up, we follow it down to the root, then come back up and make the decision from a new place.
Is coaching virtual?
Yes. All coaching happens over Zoom or Google Meet, so we work with clients across the U.S.
How long do clients work with you?
Programs run six to twelve months. Many clients choose to keep going, and some have worked with Matt for ten years.
What does it cost?
Programs are a significant investment, and the details come on a call after you apply.
Is there a guarantee?
Yes. Every program has a 14-day guarantee that starts at your first session. Show up and do the work, and if you don't feel it's right for you, you get your investment back.
How do I get started?
Founders and business owners can watch the free video and apply. Everyone else can find the right coach for them on the Individual Coaching page.
The next chapter doesn't have to cost you this much.
Whether you're running the company or leading inside one, you can keep your edge and put the weight down.