ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Many neurodivergent women are not struggling because they lack ability. They struggle because the systems around them were never designed for how their brains actually work. In this episode, Tracy talks with Stephanie Ray, a neurodivergent lawyer, coach, and founde...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Many kids aren’t struggling because they lack motivation or discipline. They’re struggling because their nervous systems are overwhelmed. In this episode, Tracy talks with Lyndsay Morris, a former teacher and school counselor diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, about...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ If you feel busy, stimulated, but still oddly unsatisfied, this episode will explain why.  ADHD isn’t a dopamine deficiency. It’s a regulation problem. Tracy breaks down what dopamine actually does in the ADHD brain and why chasing it through scrolling, shopping, s...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What if the most ADHD-friendly “plan” is simply following what lights you up? In this episode, we’re talking with Clare Adams, a British-Canadian artist, poet, community builder, and humanity advocate who was diagnosed with ADHD at 50, after both of her kids were i...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Wanting to be understood is completely normal. Especially for ADHD women. But there’s a moment where that need quietly shifts, and suddenly we’re not trying to connect anymore. We’re trying to survive. In this episode, let’s talk about why feeling misunderstood doe...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ New Year comes with a loud promise: new goals, new habits, new you. But real change does not come from flipping the calendar. It comes from changing the lens you look through, especially if your brain defaults to “I’m behind,” “I’m failing,” or “I should be better...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Every year, many of us feel pressure to set resolutions, overhaul our lives, or become a “new version” of ourselves. That approach rarely works for ADHD brains. In this episode, let’s talk about a different way forward. Instead of adding more goals, habits, or syst...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Join Tracy as she breaks her women only guest rule by welcoming Dr. Edward Hallowell to Episode 106 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women. If you know anything at all about ADHD you recognize Dr. Hallowell’s name as the leading authority in the field of ADHD. Dr. Hallowell i...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What if the intensity you’ve chased in relationships wasn’t love, but dopamine? Amanda McCracken is an award winning journalist, endurance athlete, and intimacy researcher who was diagnosed with ADHD at 36, long after she had built a successful career.  From the ou...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Some ADHD stories come from authors, psychologists, and researchers. This one comes from a 23-year-old ER nurse who learned early that the brain she has is exactly the one she needs. Nina Padilla spent ten years trying to get someone to take her ADHD symptoms serio...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Gratitude is talked about a lot, but for us with ADHD brains it isn’t just a feel-good idea. It is a physiological strategy that changes how the brain functions. In this episode, Tracy breaks down why gratitude is not optional for ADHD. It starts with dopamine. ADH...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Dr. Gilly Kahn spent years studying psychology before realizing how much of her own emotional world had been shaped by ADHD. Dr. Gilly earned a Master’s in Experimental Psychology, a Ph. D. in Clinical Psychology, and built a full clinical practice before receiving...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ When Susanne Schotanus was fifteen, she spent two years in weekly psychiatric appointments before someone finally said she had ADHD. No one explained what it meant or how to work with it. She simply left with a label that didn’t change much of anything. Years later...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ When Devene Godau adopted a retired racing greyhound, she thought she was just rescuing a dog. Instead, she found her purpose. What started as an effort to help an anxious greyhound with separation anxiety became a lesson in communication, connection, and compassio...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ A 10-year-old boy sat across from Dr. Kalaki Clarke, MD during her psychiatry rotation, and she saw herself. Smart, charming, good grades but couldn't get it together. That's when she knew she had ADHD too. Dr. Clarke was in her first year of residency at...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ You walk into a room and forget why you're there. You miss deadlines even though you care deeply about the work. You can remember a random conversation from 15 years ago but not what someone just told you five minutes ago. Welcome to life with an ADHD brain an...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Kiersten Lyons spent most of her life being told she was too much. Too loud, too dramatic, too many feelings all at once. She was also told she wasn't enough. Not pretty enough, not the right fit, not what Hollywood was looking for. The dichotomy nearly broke...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Nicole Bela was brilliant at her job. She could read a room in seconds, remember every donor’s story, and raise millions for causes she believed in. But behind the polished professionalism, she was quietly unraveling. The same systems designed to do good were slowl...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What happens when doing everything "right" still leaves you miserable? You start asking better questions. Shell Mendelson was a successful CEO of KidzArt, an international children's art franchise she founded, when everything fell apart. Despite look...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Burnout was Skye Waterson's PhD companion. She'd switch majors—psychology to law to sociology—convinced each time that she just hadn't found her passion yet. The truth was simpler and more complex: she was trying to outwork her undiagnosed ADHD, and...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Sometimes the thing that saves you is also the thing that masks your greatest struggle. Swimming was Meg Hennessey Schofield's lifeline through college—three to four miles a day that kept her ADHD brain calm and focused. When she quit her senior year to focus...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Sometimes, the most humbling moments teach us the most about ourselves. Tracy recently found herself in Santa Barbara, recording courses for major companies like LinkedIn Learning and Google. After three flawless, scripted trainings, she was asked to do an imprompt...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ From the outside, you look like you've got it all together. But inside? You're drowning in the endless mental load, feeling guilty because you need breaks from your kids, and wondering why other moms seem to breeze through daily routines that leave you co...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup Natasha M. Nurse lived 37 years not knowing she was neurodivergent. Then motherhood changed everything. The crying, the overwhelm, the dark thoughts that felt like more than typical new parent struggles—all of it led to a discovery that would reshape her understanding of...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _ Barbara Baskin spent 30 years convinced she wasn't very smart. School was academic probation and "needs to try harder" report cards. Then came an ADHD diagnosis at 30, followed by three decades of raising four kids (including triplets), caring for her mo...