Dana Byers: Certified Life and Leadership Coach for Christian Women

For the dependable woman who's running on empty.

I coach high-capacity Christian women who have become the dependable one for everyone and are running on empty. Together we trade exhaustion and quiet resentment for clear boundaries, real rest, and a soul that feels calm again.

I'm Dana Byers, founder and CEO of Kind Birdie and a certified life and leadership coach based in Edmond, Oklahoma. I work with capable, high-capacity Christian women who are carrying a full life well and running out of what fills them back up.

Kind Birdie

Why I coach

From 2005 to 2017, I burned out every couple of years. I was a pastor and a leader, and I still needed help. In 2017 I hired a coach, took the Energy Leadership Index, and saw my own pattern of response to stress for the first time. I practiced what I learned for a few years before I taught it to anyone.

Simply put, it worked. I was the woman who needed extra support, and I have no shame in that whatsoever.

In 2021, I asked 20 friends, co-workers, and business contacts what role they could picture me thriving in. More than half said "life coach." I took my first client in 2022.

How I coach

Good coaches ask; they don't direct. My work rests on three things:

  • Following the string. You come in pulling on one string that's annoying you in life. You answer a few honest questions, and you start to see where that string actually leads. Along the way, we untangle the knots together: knots in your thinking, assumptions, limiting beliefs, and more. Relief often begins in places you didn't point to at first.
  • Energy, not effort. Using the Energy Leadership Index, we look at the draining (catabolic) and life-giving (anabolic) energy behind how you respond to stress, and practice shifting toward the second.
  • Faith in the everyday. Scripture, prayer, and rest woven into real decisions on ordinary days, never as one more thing to get right.

The stressor doesn't always disappear. You meet it differently. That might look like saying no without a long explanation, asking for time to pray before you answer, or finally asking for help.

Credentials

  • iPEC Certified Professional Coach
  • Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner (ELI-MP)
  • COR.E Dynamics Specialist
  • 25+ years across social work, nonprofit leadership, pastoral ministry, missionary service, and coaching
  • Pioneer in the Church Online movement
  • Founder of Kind Birdie, a Certified Woman-Owned Business that gives 20% of profits to City Care OKC

What clients say

"I know that I don't have to do things that I don't want to anymore." (Mandi)
"It feels natural to live out my values now because I can see that God made me this way." (Amanda)
"I lacked vision and needed help adapting to all of my new life changes. Dana provided positive insight and real strategies on how to reframe my thoughts and have intentional, transformative progress." (Jayma)
"I was in a major crossroads in my life and needed a professional's perspective in making some huge life decisions. Dana's coaching and course were key for me. The one-on-one private coaching sessions are priceless. Professionally and personally, God knew who and just what I needed." (Andrea)
"I'm a couple of months removed from my last coaching session, and I still find myself regularly using strategies and techniques that I learned during my time with Dana. She wasn't just a short term coach. She taught me how to coach myself for the long term!" (Tracy)
"Coaching with Dana has had a lasting impact on my entire family. I am now better able to understand and care for myself which allows me to show up better for those I love." (Emmalee)
"Dana's coaching has been very impactful on my professional and personal life. I have been able to complete tasks that have been on my to-do list for over two years!" (Leslie)
"Working with Dana has changed the trajectory of my work life. Wow!" (Shannon)
"Dana's coaching revealed barriers that were affecting my personal and professional growth. She taught me how to find paths toward my goals and how to reframe my thinking to see breakthrough. The results have been transformational!" (Amanda)
"Ladies: It is 100% worth it to invest in your growth and leadership, and Dana provides the resources and guidance to help get you 'from here to there'. Whether life is throwing complicated circumstances your way or you are looking to expand beyond your current leadership capabilities, Dana has been a trusted guide and coach to help me move beyond my current limitations and I believe she can help you too!" (Melanie)
"Working with Dana has helped me overcome the obstacles that were limiting my growth and success in running my business. Dana helped me map out a plan of action that will not only help me overcome the roadblocks, but will no doubt take my business to the next level." (Stephanie)
"Dana brought clarity and wisdom to the ELI results." (Erica, ELI)

Speaking

Speaker, EquipHer Conference, Las Vegas, April 5 to 6, 2027. Join me there! I also teach local courses, including the Rest for the Weary workshop and ELI workshops. Former host of the podcast Been There, Learned That (56 episodes, rated 4.9 on Apple Podcasts).

Work with me

Energy Leadership Index (ELI) Assessment, $149. See what you're experiencing in your mind every day. You get your results, a debrief video from me, and a 30-minute coaching call.

Six Coaching Sessions with Dana, $1,500. Six one-hour sessions, used on your timeline within a year. Some women use all six in two weeks. Most spread them over a few months.

Start with the ELI Explore coaching

Find me

I am an iPEC certified coach. The Energy Leadership Index (ELI) is a copyrighted assessment tool of iPEC, and descriptions here are my interpretation of the framework. Coaching is not therapy or counseling.

Kind Birdie

★★★★★

Best Planner to Build Your Year

The Upward Year Annual Bundle

The Upward Year is the only subscription that pairs a beautifully designed faith planner with monthly soul-care coaching, backed by a money-back guarantee, so high-capacity Christian women stop managing their lives and start building them.

The Upward Year

Four planners. Twelve teachings.
One transformative year.

You've been managing your life. This year, you'll build it.

What The Upward Year Is

A 12-month subscription that fuses assessments and a physical task planner with ongoing coaching-level teaching across an entire year — the first product of its kind.

4 Upward Planners
shipped all at once, so she can build immediate momentum

12 soul-care teachings
one monthly email for each month of the year, right when you need it

Not a devotional. Not a to-do list.
Assessments, a physical planner, and coaching-level teaching — built for the whole year

Not a devotional. Not a productivity system. Not a calendar. Built for high-capacity Christian women, for good.

$129/year

One payment. Four planners shipped now. A full year of teaching ahead.

The Upward Year Promise

We believe the experience of this year will positively impact you, or your investment back. If you faithfully work through your Upward Year — planners and teachings — for the full twelve months and don't see meaningful growth, we'll refund you.

Planners already shipped as part of a refunded subscription are non-returnable. If your planner arrives damaged or you need to update your shipping address, we're happy to help at hello@kindbirdie.com.

The Upward Year Kind Birdie
The Upward Year Kind Birdie
Preview of interior pages of a planner with text about its purpose.
Kind Birdie Upward Planner Annual Bundle, a teal planner with gold lettering and a spiral binding, next to an open planner with daily focus prompts.
Kind Birdie Upward Planner Annual Bundle, a spiral-bound Christian planner with sections for Spiritual Life, Family, Friends/Community, Fun/Recreation, Learning & Growth, and Finances.
Kind Birdie Upward Planner Annual Bundle open to a daily focus page with prompts and task lists. Teal cover visible.
Kind Birdie Upward Planner Annual Bundle includes four Christian planners in teal, lavender, beige, and coral with gold spiral binding.

The Upward Year: 4 Faith Planners + 12 Months of Soul-Care Coaching

$129 USD /
Subscription -

Select an option to add this to your cart.

Make sure to subscribe your email at checkout to receive your teachings!

The planner with a coach inside, for a whole year.

Four planners. Thirteen coaching emails. One decision that carries you through twelve months of soul care, starting any day you choose.

Every Upward Planner already has a coach inside: a coaching question every Sunday, space to reflect every Saturday, and a quarterly assessment and goal-setting section. The Upward Year adds the coach's voice to your inbox. Each month, Dana Byers, a certified life and leadership coach, sends a teaching email with coaching questions for the struggles high-capacity Christian women carry most. Hit reply anytime and you'll hear from Dana personally.

One purchase. One year. Here's what's included:

  • 4 Upward Planners, shipped all at once so you can build momentum right away. Choose all four in one color, or select "Multicolor" to get one planner in each of our four colors.

  • 12 monthly coaching emails written for high-capacity Christian women, plus 1 bonus teaching that arrives mid-year as a surprise gift, right when you reach the hardest stretch: the middle.

  • A real coach on the other end. Reply to any email with a question or a win, and Dana will write back.

  • Backed by a money-back guarantee.

Think of it as a year of coaching-level soul care you can hold in your hands, so you can stop just managing your life and start building it with God.

Make sure to enter your email address at checkout. Your Upward Year experience includes 13 soul-care coaching emails delivered monthly over the next year. Without a valid email at checkout, you'll miss these.

The planner with a coach inside, for a whole year.

Four planners. Thirteen coaching emails. One decision that carries you through twelve months of soul care, starting any day you choose.

Every Upward Planner already has a coach inside: a coaching question every Sunday, space to reflect every Saturday, and a quarterly assessment and goal-setting section. The Upward Year adds the coach's voice to your inbox. Each month, Dana Byers, a certified life and leadership coach, sends a teaching email with coaching questions for the struggles high-capacity Christian women carry most. Hit reply anytime and you'll hear from Dana personally.

One purchase. One year. Here's what's included:

  • 4 Upward Planners, shipped all at once so you can build momentum right away. Choose all four in one color, or select "Multicolor" to get one planner in each of our four colors.

  • 12 monthly coaching emails written for high-capacity Christian women, plus 1 bonus teaching that arrives mid-year as a surprise gift, right when you reach the hardest stretch: the middle.

  • A real coach on the other end. Reply to any email with a question or a win, and Dana will write back.

  • Backed by a money-back guarantee.

Think of it as a year of coaching-level soul care you can hold in your hands, so you can stop just managing your life and start building it with God.

Make sure to enter your email address at checkout. Your Upward Year experience includes 13 soul-care coaching emails delivered monthly over the next year. Without a valid email at checkout, you'll miss these.

What Women Are Saying

Real transformations from women

Transform Your Year

“I didn’t realize how much I was holding in my head until I started writing it down. This planner helped me slow down and actually hear God again.”

Kind-Birdie-favicon_OPT

Sarah D.

“It’s the first planner I’ve stuck with. Not because I’m more disciplined, but because it meets me where I am.”

Kind-Birdie-favicon_OPT

Lisa S.

“I feel calmer within the first week. That alone made it worth it.”

Kind-Birdie-favicon_OPT

Teresa R.

In Her Words

Hear from a real Kind Birdie customer.

The Upward Year

A Full Year of Planners.
A Full Year of Peace.

Four Upward Planners in your colors, twelve months of soul-care teaching, and a certified coach in your corner the whole way through.

Most planners ask you to start over every few months. This one carries you through the whole year.

4 Planners Included 13 Teachings + Coaching Certified Coach-Designed Join Any Day of the Year Ships All at Once

Choose your 4 colors at checkout


Coral

Oatmeal

Pink

Midnight
Choose Your 4 Planner Colors & Start Today — $129
Choose Your 4 Planner Colors & Start Today

Join today, and your first teaching email arrives today. No January 1 required.

The shift you're looking for

From overwhelmed to anchored.

This is what a full year with The Upward Year makes possible.

Before

  • Feeling responsible for everyone, with no one asking how she is doing
  • Starting a new planner every few months and never finishing a year with it
  • Giving generously and feeling guilty wanting anything in return
  • Full of ideas, and unsure which one to actually finish
  • Doing faithful, important work that nobody seems to notice
→

12 months later

  • Known and cared for by name, not just by her to-do list
  • One steady rhythm that carried her through the entire year
  • Receiving without guilt, and giving from fullness instead of fear
  • A clear next step each month, instead of ten unfinished ideas
  • Recognized for who she is, not only for what she produces
A Look Inside

A look inside your Upward Year

Christian planner interior spread showing weekday focus sheets and top tasks, annotated in coral

Every planner arrives ready to hold both your to-do list and your soul, side by side. Space for the tasks that need to get done, space for the scripture that anchors your week, and room to think, pray, and process as you go.

Choose Your 4 Planner Colors & Start Today

$129 for the full year

This is for you if...

You see yourself in one of these.

The Upward Year was written for six real patterns women live in. Wherever you land, there is a teaching that speaks directly to you.

The woman who pours out for everyone else and quietly wonders who is pouring into her
The woman who has built a full life and still asks herself if it is enough
The woman who executes brilliantly at work and cannot slow down long enough to rest
The woman who gives generously and feels guilty wanting anything in return
The woman full of ideas who struggles to land any one of them
The woman doing faithful, important work that nobody seems to notice
A Closer Look

A detailed look at a Saturday page

Upward Planner weekly review page spread, annotated in navy, showing the Saturday reflection and personal task list

Saturdays are built for reflection. You will look back on the week that passed, name what drained you and what gave you life, and decide what to carry forward. It is a rhythm that meets you exactly where you are, week after week.

Choose Your 4 Planner Colors & Start Today

All four planners ship together. You choose the colors.

How it works

A simple rhythm, for the whole year.

Three steps. Every month. Starting the day you join.

1

Receive your monthly teaching

One soul-care email a month, written for the season you are actually in, not the one the calendar says you should be in.

2

Reflect with guided questions

Each teaching includes coaching questions built for journaling or quiet reflection, at your own pace.

3

Hear back from your coach

Reply and share where you are. A certified coach sends a real, personal response back to you.

Your full year of teaching, month by month

Month 1You Were Made to Receive
Month 2Rest Is Not a Reward
Month 3Open Hands
Month 4Grow Deep Before You Grow Wide
Month 5The Freedom of a Rhythm
Month 6When Someone Else's Life Feels Like a Mirror
Month 7No Is a Complete Sentence
Month 8Love Without Losing Yourself
Month 9Sacred in the Routine
Month 10Your Story Is Not a Problem to Solve
Month 11The Practice of Enough
Month 12Peace That Does Not Require Answers
Real Women. Real Change.

This is why women keep coming back to it.

"Getting this planner is the greatest investment for my spiritual growth that I could have gotten."
Tinnisha G.
"I feel calmer within the first week. That alone made it worth it."
Teresa R.
"It's the first planner I've actually stuck with."
Lisa S.
Choose Your 4 Planner Colors & Start Today

You join today, you get your first email today.

What you get for the full year

Everything included in your $129

  • Four Upward Planners, shipped together, so your whole year is ready to go
  • You choose all four colors at checkout, before your first planner even arrives
  • 12 monthly soul-care teaching emails written by a certified coach
  • One bonus teaching, delivered as a surprise gift right when you need it most
  • Coaching questions built into every teaching, made for reflection or journaling
  • A real, personal response back from your coach when you reply and share where you are
$129 for the whole year. One payment, nothing renews. One payment. Four planners ship now.
Our Mission

We are a Certified Woman-Owned Business based in Oklahoma, USA. 20% of our profits support neighbors who are experiencing or transitioning from homelessness. Your Upward Year helps fund someone else's upward turn, too.

Choose Your 4 Planner Colors & Start Today

Backed by a rhythm that carries you through all twelve months.

Begin your Upward Year
today.

You join today, you get your first email today. No January 1 required, no starting over next quarter. Just a rhythm you can trust, for the whole year ahead.

Choose Your 4 Planner Colors & Start Today

Light hearts. Anchored souls.

Frequently Asked. Already Answered.

No, and this is part of what makes this bundle meaningful.

Each planner is designed for a 13-week season, and across the entire year, every Sunday includes a different Bible verse, affirmation, and coaching question.

So as you move through the year, you’re not repeating the same content. You’re being guided, week by week, into deeper clarity, reflection, and growth.

You won’t.

These planners are undated, so you can pick them up and continue anytime. No guilt, no wasted pages, no pressure to be perfect.

No. It’s intentionally simple.

This system is designed to create clarity, not complexity. You’ll have just enough guidance to stay grounded without feeling boxed in.

Yes. It’s practical, beautiful, and meaningful.

It’s something she’ll actually use, not just set aside.

A Word from Our Founder

The Upward Year Was Made for Women Like You.

Recently viewed

A little birdie told us you'd love these: