A StepUp Program
READY
Resilience, Empathy, and Authenticity for Developing YounG-Adults
Peer-to-PEER Coaching Program
Are you READY to join us?
Sign up today for a 4 session free trial, meet the community, and determine if READY is right for you.
Peer Coaching for Teens and Young Adults
Created in collaboration between practitioners, high-achieving students and student-athletes, the READY program provides high school, college and post college students with an environment where they can coach each other on a journey of discovery and maturation. Through READY’s peer-to-peer coaching program, participants will build courage, perseverance, and a sense of purpose in each other’s mutual betterment that they can adapt and pay forward into their future as emboldened young adults and professionals.
What is READY?
READY is a performance based, peer-led organization where teenagers and young adults (ages 15–25) can speak openly and honestly, share thoughts and feelings and inspire and empower on one another to move forward together
Through facilitator led, guided conversations and peer support, members address limiting beliefs, negative self-talk, comparing themselves to others, fears and triggers (*see detailed list below)
Our members learn to take off their “masks”, be authentic and empathetic, and together resolve issues related to school, sports, relationships, stress, college and careers.
The results are greater clarity, confidence, resilience and accountability to take specific action toward your goals
How READY Works
- Weekly 75-minute, facilitator led, virtual sessions
- Meetings consist of 10–15 members, led by trained peer facilitators, who then break into small groups (3–5) for deeper discussion and issue processing
- Ongoing support and follow up on action steps between weekly sessions are provided through GroupMe, text, or calls, to improve traction and provide accountability
Choose Your Path:
Begin as a Participant– attend four READY sessions for free and experience our READY process
Become a member – pay dues of $50/month and experience on ongoing support and traction that is achieved working together with like-minded peers. No individual is denied membership based on financial status. Any member who cannot afford the full $50 monthly fee pays whatever they can afford, and their remaining membership dues will be covered by READY
Become a Facilitator – Members who have an interest and show a proficiency in contributing and providing feedback to peers can request to become either facilitators in training (FITS) or lead facilitators (LF’s) and receive $50 or $100, respectively for each session they facilitate
Pick Your Path:
Start as a Participant (Free)
✔ Join a supportive group of like-minded young adults to process issues
✔ Attend up to 4 READY sessions for free and experience the value of these sessions for you
✔ Receive weekly check-ins and accountability support with partners/facilitators
Become a Member
✔ Belong to a supportive tribe of like-minded young adults on an ongoing basis
✔ Attend up to 12 READY sessions per month
✔ Weekly check-ins and accountability support with partners/facilitators
✔ Access to the READY Toolbox (forms, exercises, tools)
✔ Receive a monthly podcast & newsletter
✔ Make connections with peers who can prepare you for interviews and make introductions to prospective employers
✔ Add READY membership to your resume
✔ Opportunity to become a Facilitator in Training (FIT) or Lead Facilitator
✔ Receive a “READY” hat
Become a Facilitator
✔ Receive training in leading group sessions
✔ Earn $100/$50 facilitating READY sessions or breakout rooms, respectively
✔ Add READY facilitator to your resume
Sign up for our next sessions
Confirm your attendance & get a sneak preview of our key topics covered in each of our upcoming sessions.
Are you READY to join us?
Sign up today for a 4 session free trial, meet the community, and determine if READY is right for you.
OUR STORY
Built in Athletics. Made for Everyone.
What began on the field now lives in classrooms, dorm rooms and real life. READY was born through sport - but now it is for every young adult navigating pressure, purpose, and growth.
READY was born in 2020 at the University of Virginia, where a group of varsity captains and student-athlete mentors began hosting “campfire chats” to talk openly about the mental and emotional toll of high-performance environments.
Inspired by those conversations, Co-Founder Jackson Appelt set out to bring the same model to a broader audience. For his senior capstone, he designed and taught a class called Resilience and Authenticity for the Young Adult, which laid the groundwork for the READY curriculum.
After graduating, Jackson partnered with longtime mentor and StepUp CEO Daron Shepard to turn READY into a full-scale peer mentoring program for high school and college students. They brought together the original UVA athletes and StepUp coaches to serve as founding facilitators—combining the spirit of team leadership with real-world support for all young adults. READY is a space for anyone facing the real challenges of growing up – Athletes and non-Athletes alike. All are encouraged to join.
Become familiar with our session structures & content
Core Themes & Values
Navigating uncertainty & the future
Learning from failure & adversity
Setting and pursuing goals
Building self-image
Deepening relationships
Handling pressure & performance
Maturing through life-transitions
Battling injury & health
Forming productive habits
Adopting meaningful responsibility
Why join READY?
In READY, participants will learn the personal and social skills necessary to both thrive and survive as a young adult in today’s world:
Resilience, Empathy, and Authenticity.
They will seek the courage, perseverance, and sense of meaning in one another that they can each adapt and pay forward into all their future endeavors.
Through this practice, we hope to all become not only better listeners, communicators, and emotional thinkers, but sons and daughters, friends and teammates, and leaders.
This is how our culture moves from one of social isolation to collaborative development. This is READY.
“This is the most important program any school or university could have for the well-being of our youth.”
Featured Testimonials
Start your journey for FREE
Sign up today for a 4 week free trial and see why READY is the ultimate peer-to-peer coaching program.