Women & ADHD

Episode 112 with Annie Romanos. “We can get so busy that we just forget things. We’ll be so enthralled in what we’re doing that we forget to go to the toilet or we forget to eat.” Annie is an ICF-accredited executive and ADHD coach from Aotearoa/New Zealand. Her late diagnosis at 49 was a profoundly life-changing moment, and represented a missing link after years of “underachieving”, observing her...

Episode 111 with Linda Yi. “My internal monologue is always asking, ‛Why does this seem so easy for other people but it’s so hard for me?’” Linda Yi is a Sichuanese-American comic-artist, food entrepreneur, and mental health advocate based in New York.   She is the creator of Panda Cub Dtories, a weekly comic series about Chinese culture, Sichuan food, and living with ADHD. Panda Cub Stories has a...

Episode 110 with Meredith Carder.  “One of the best things we can do for ourselves is to get support, rather than thinking ‛I should be able to do this.’” Meredith is an ADDCA-trained ADHD coach and one of my favorite Instagram creators.  As a true multi-passionate adult with ADHD, Meredith has gained varied experience over the last 20 years working in employee training and development as well as...

Episode 109 with Miranda Carlu. “It’s not just a diagnosis, it’s an identity — because you realize that almost every part of you has been impacted in some way by this brain wiring.” Miranda is a freelance business analyst living in Belgium. She has worked for a Fortune 500 company and other large corporations, and she has also recently started her training as an ADHD coach and is preparing to cons...

Episode 108 with Robin Zheng. “My family always called me the absent-minded professor. I’d walk into a room and forget what I was doing, and I’d have to walk back to the room I came from in order to remember.” Trigger Warning: Talk about suicide and suicidal ideation. Dr. Zheng is an academic philosopher. She’s originally from the U.S. but spent several years working in Singapore and currently liv...

Episode 107 with Carolina Ramirez. “When my son was diagnosed, I hyperfocused on research. His doctor said, ‛That’s not healthy for you; you’re not sleeping.’ But that’s what my brain needed to do in order to feel calmer.” Carolina is a Latina licensed therapist and parent coach who is based in North Carolina. She specializes in supporting parents of neurodiverse children, as well as helping other...

Episode 106 with Mallory Band. “When I’m talking, I have to give the whole backstory to the story. I can’t stop. It drives my husband nuts. It drives me nuts. But I can’t stop.” Mallory was diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety at the age of 8. She now works as an executive function specialist who helps children, teens, and young adults work toward independence, increased organization, and improved time...

Episode 105 with Paulina Chełstowska. “I was always told that I’m talented but lazy. Nobody could understand why such an intelligent person could fail so badly at school.” Paulina is a social worker and a soft skills trainer and facilitator living in Poland. She specializes in using games as tools for team-building and education, working mostly with underprivileged youth at risk of exclusion and i...

Episode 104 with Dr. Kellie Stecher. “Many of our parents were of the mindset that you don’t need help, you don’t need therapy, you don’t need coaching, you don’t need medicine. You can just figure it out.” Dr. Stecher is an OBGYN and Co-Founder and President of Patient Care Heroes, as well as the Governor of the 7th district of the American Medical Women’s Association, and advisor to multiple oth...

Episode 103 with Christine Syrad. “Our attention is like a river. Sometimes you could do with a dam because you can’t stop yourself from focusing. And other times you go through massive droughts.” Christine is a gastronomist and fermentation enthusiast who also happens to speak 5 languages. She grew up between the UK, Japan, and Italy and has spent the last decade or so in Switzerland, where she n...

Episode 102 with Dr. Janina Elbert. “I’m not sure if I would call ADHD my superpower, but certain strengths or ideas I get from my creative brain is definitely a superpower.” Dr. Elbert has a PhD in clinical psychology with an extensive background in prenatal risk factors and child development. She is also an ADHD advocate and a certified ADHD coach. Through her ADHD Empowerment Coaching practice,...

Episode 101 with Robyn Buchanan. “I call it ‛reasonable minimalism,’ where we only keep what we use. Having less stuff around means less distraction and better focus.” Robyn is a registered nurse, life and focus coach, and Youtube creator who specializes in the topics of minimalism and decluttering.  Living in a house full of ADHDers, including three teenage boys, Robyn learned firsthand the value...

Episode 100 with Nancy Armstrong. “There’s a lot of finger-pointing that this is your fault and if you were trying harder, you could overcome this, but clearly you’re not trying.” Nancy is the executive producer of the powerful, award-winning documentary “The Disruptors,” which debunks many prevailing negative stereotypes around ADHD and includes interviews with celebrities, athletes & entrepr...

Episode 99 with Anne Bartolucci. “I now look back at some of the stupid things I did when I was younger and think, ‛Oh, that’s why!’ I’m more compassionate with my younger self now, which has been healing.” Anne is a licensed psychologist, certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist, and the founder and chief psychologist of Atlanta Insomnia & Behavioral Health Services. She is also adjunct...

Episode 98 with Sarah Wheeler. “I was like, Why do I have all these ambitions, yet so much incompetence? Like, I know I’m smart. Why can’t I just get it together?” Sarah is a writer, educational psychologist, and neurodiversity trainer based in Oakland. I first discovered Sarah through her Substack newsletter Momspreading . She wrote a piece reflecting back on her adult ADHD diagnosis, and it was...

Episode 97 with Kalin Johnson. “When I was growing up, my mom used to ask, ‘Don’t you ever get tired of thinking?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but what am I going to do? Is there an alternative?’” Kalin is an American healthcare provider, mental health advocate, and entrepreneur. She shows high-achieving, neurodivergent individuals how to unmask their health and feel their best through concierge whole...

Episode 96 with Diana Heldfond. “No child shows up to school wanting to be the anxious kid in class or the disorganized one. There’s something else going on that’s inhibiting that child from succeeding.” Diana is the founder and CEO of Parallel Learning. As early as 7 years old, Diana realized she was not progressing at the pace of her fellow classmates. Soon thereafter, she was diagnosed with dys...

Episode 95 with Courtney Ruckman. “At first, I didn’t see the hyperactivity piece in myself, until I realized it applies to thoughts. My brain is like 20 radio stations at the same time.” Courtney was diagnosed with ADHD in October 2021 and the Women & ADHD podcast was one of the first resources she found (yay!). Courtney spent 11 years as a professional opera singer before retiring about 2 ye...

Episode 94 with Ebony Washington. “On tests, I would read a sentence over and over and over again because it wasn’t processing in my brain. I’d think, ‘I’m smart. Why can’t I understand this?’” Ebony is a writer, artist, martial artist, and writers’ assistant on ABC’s hit medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy. Ebony was officially diagnosed with ADHD back in 2012 while in college, and we talk all about th...

Episode 93 with Izzie Chea “There are families that don’t want to think of the idea that their child might be different. It makes it very hard to be yourself or to be an authentic person.” Izzie is a Dominican-Mexican-American creative, music educator, storyteller, and mental health advocate. After a late diagnosis of ADHD at age 35, she took her talent of content creation to Instagram, where @izz...

Episode 92 with Sharon McCarthy. “I will start talking and lose my train of thought mid-sentence because my brain has suddenly gone off on a completely different tangent.” Sharon is the founding director of Autism Journeys, a training and consultancy service based in Cork, Ireland, where she supports autistic children and young people and their families from both an advocacy and educational standp...

Episode 91 with Lisa Dos Santos. “Since I was 5 or 6, I was told I was lazy, messy, and forgetful. They used to call me lostkop in Afrikaans, which literally means your head is lost.” Lisa is a 35-year-old South African who was recently diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type. She suspected something was different about her growing up but always assumed it was due to the trauma of being raised in an...

Episode 90 with Laura Key. “ADHD is that thing you didn’t know you had, but once you do realize you have it, everything else makes sense.” Laura Key, a longtime editor and content creator, is the editorial director at Understood.org , a resource for the millions of people with learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia.  Laura is also the host of the  ADHD Aha!  podcast, where her gu...

Episode 89 with Layla Touchet. “I was actually a hyperactive child, but the school told my mom that I’m just gifted and bored. I mean, y’all were right. But y’all were wrong, too. It was more than that.” Layla is a 29 year old neurodivergent female who works as a school counselor in Louisiana, working with tiny humans in grades pre-k through 2nd grade, most of whom are neurodivergent as well.  She...

Episode 88 with Candin Phillips. “I’m one of those people who keeps chugging along, and it takes something really big to knock me off course before I step down and take care of myself.” Candin is a licensed clinician and supervisor in South Carolina. She specializes in diagnosing ADHD and educating others — especially other therapists — to recognize traits of ADHD.  She is the founder of Humanity...