Joy Leccese
Joy Leccese is a personal transformation coach, caregiver advocate, and mindfulness practitioner whose career has been shaped by decades of helping people navigate trauma, healing, and personal growth. Based in Rochester, she is the founder of JML & Company, where she works one-on-one and in group settings to help individuals—particularly women and caregivers—move from survival mode into lives rooted in purpose, resilience, and joy. Known as “The Gutsy Woman Coach,” Joy developed her signature program, “How to Raise Your Joy Quotient,” to help clients regulate emotions, process unresolved trauma, and rediscover fulfillment through mindfulness, meditation, and practical daily practices.
Joy’s professional journey has been anything but conventional, with each chapter deepening her understanding of human behavior and emotional healing. She began her career in psychotherapy after graduate school, spending eight years at a psychiatric hospital in New Orleans, where she conducted group and family therapy alongside psychiatrists and social workers. Later, while raising her children, she transitioned into financial planning for more than a decade, eventually realizing that whether in therapy, finance, or coaching, her true gift was helping people gain clarity, trust themselves, and make empowered decisions. For the past 15 years, she has dedicated herself fully to life coaching and transformational work.
A defining influence in Joy’s life and work has been her experience as the primary caregiver for her son following a traumatic brain injury sustained nearly three decades ago. That journey profoundly reshaped her perspective on resilience, identity, and the human capacity for healing, inspiring her long-standing work with caregivers and survivors of traumatic brain injury. Through her coaching, Joy creates safe, compassionate, and nonjudgmental spaces where clients feel seen, heard, and empowered to reconnect with themselves. Her work centers on helping people cultivate “micro-joys,” regulate their nervous systems, and build meaningful lives grounded in authenticity, emotional wellness, and self-trust.
• Bank Street College of Education
• Maryville University of Saint Louis- B.A.
What do you attribute your success to?
For me, professional fulfillment has been anything but linear, yet each twist has deepened my capacity for connection. After beginning my career in psychotherapy at a psychiatric hospital in New Orleans for 8 years, I shifted into financial planning for 13 years. Then life delivered its hardest lesson: my son suffered a traumatic brain injury after being assaulted in his sleep. Now 44, he remains under my care as his primary caregiver, a role I call my proudest accomplishment. Being the parent of a teenage son who was attacked in his sleep taught me everything about being an adult, about being a woman who knows herself and finds her resources from within. That purpose became the core of my journey. Today, as a life coach of 15 years, I've built a program called How to Raise Your Joy Quotient, tailored to where each client is in the moment. I create a judgment-free, safe space for authentic self-discovery. Dubbing myself The Gutsy Woman Coach, I thrive on earning trust and helping people move from survival mode into drive mode. When I'm in a session, I'm in my bliss. My greatest reward is seeing clients find their deepest joy and knowing that my own broken path led me right there.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received came from my sales experience: “The best way to do it is to unsell”—to ask thoughtful questions, truly listen, and allow the right fit to reveal itself naturally instead of forcing the outcome.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this industry is to find and use your voice, recognize the unique gifts you bring to the table, and continue contributing with purpose as you grow older while making space every day for small moments of joy and fulfillment.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in my field is transitioning from a referral-based, one-to-one coaching practice into scalable, evergreen programs that can generate ongoing revenue beyond the founder’s direct involvement. At the same time, there’s a tremendous opportunity to repurpose and package existing content into shorter, accessible programs that can reach and impact a much wider audience.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are connection, trust, authenticity, purpose, and helping others discover joy, healing, and resilience.