Annie Romanos: Underachievement, Gen X diagnosis & ‘Aroreretini’

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 high-performing clients surpass her and not being able to figure out why. 

Since learning more about her ADHD, being coached intensively, and gaining professional ADHD coaching development, Annie wholeheartedly believes that ADHD can be an ‘adhdvantage’. She believes that while you might have ADHD for life, ADHD doesn’t need to be a life sentence.

While Annie has been coaching for over 8 years, she is one of New Zealand’s first executive ADHD coaches, with her own practice, as well as working with a recently launched ADHD-centric service for New Zealanders called @beehyve.health .

Annie and I talk about some of the unique experiences of getting a late diagnosis as a Gen-Xer. We also talk about the nagging feeling of underachievement and missed potential that so many of us experienced in life and some of the coaching strategies she uses with her clients. We also talk about energy management and productivity and making sure we’re taking care of ourselves as we age.

And while ADHD is widely considered a deficiency in attention, she likes to remind people of the Māori definition of ADHD — aroreretini — which means “attention goes to many things.” 

Website: annieromanos.com

Instagram: @theadhdvantage

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

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Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

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Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

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Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

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Order the “Hey, it’s ADHD!” course: www.womenandadhd.com/adhdcourse

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If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Linda Yi: Cooking, community, and panda cub stories

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 an engaged global audience of over 15,000 followers on Instagram — and has been featured in Today.com, Kaleidoscope Society, and BoredPanda.

Linda is also the founder of Panda Cub Diner, a membership-based online cooking club and community space where she teaches Sichuan food lovers how to recreate their favorite dishes at home. As a self-taught cook, she specializes in making cooking accessible and fun. 

Linda and I talk about some of the unique challenges many of us face when it comes to cooking, meal planning, shame, and executive dysfunction. She shares her incredible story of how lockdown and homesickness fueled her desire to learn to cook traditional Sichuan meals, and how teaching others has helped her to take care of herself. And we talk about how her comic characters have helped her process her own adult ADHD diagnosis and be kinder and gentler with herself.

Grab a coffee or tea and pop in for Linda's free "Cooking Sichuanese with ADHD" webinar! One-part Sichuanese cooking class and one-part ADHD friendly cooking techniques, all garnished with Linda’s illustrations. Sign up for a session at www.pandacubdiner.com 

Website: PandaCubStories

Instagram: @pandacubstories

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

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Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

- - - - -

Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

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Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

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Order the “Hey, it’s ADHD!” course: www.womenandadhd.com/adhdcourse

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If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Meredith Carder: Chaos closets and unlearning perfectionism

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 creating several small businesses. 

In 2019 Meredith decided to pursue ADHD coaching after seeing the positive impact it had on both her life and on her daughter's life. Meredith prides herself in her ability to hold a supportive space for her clients and facilitate lasting connections in her groups. 

We talk all about impulsivity and the “now/not now” relationship with time management. We also talk about curiosity and the love of learning, our mutual love of movie trailers, and how to unlearn perfectionism and take ourselves less seriously.

Website: https://linktr.ee/Hummingbird_adhd

Instagram: @hummingbird_adhd

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

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Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

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Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

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Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

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Order the “Hey, it’s ADHD!” course: www.womenandadhd.com/adhdcourse

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If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Miranda Carlu: ADHD assets in the workplace

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 consult with her first client on how to achieve neurodiversity inclusion in the workplace.

Miranda and I talk all about the advantages that come with having a neurodivergent brain at work, including creative problem-solving, the ability to quickly spot patterns, and our talent for failing well. We also talk about some of the common barriers that exist around recruitment and receiving workplace accommodations.

For inquiries regarding coaching, email miranda@resilientminds.coach

For Business Analysis services or Neurodiversity Consulting, you can reach out to her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirandacarlu/

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

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Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

- - - - -

Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

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Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

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Order the “Hey, it’s ADHD!” course: www.womenandadhd.com/adhdcourse

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If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Robin Zheng: Performance anxiety, academia & the pressure to succeed

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 lives in Scotland working as a Lecturer in Political Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. Her research and teaching focus on moral, social, and political philosophy with special emphasis on issues of gender, race, and class. 

It was only very recently that Dr. Zheng’s therapist suggested that she might have ADHD, and she’s still in the midst of the long and drawn-out process of getting a formal diagnosis through the NHS (National Health Service). 

Nevertheless, simply learning the truth about ADHD has already led to major improvements in her mental health. We talk about her experience with anxiety and depression in an academic setting. 

She notes that she was particularly motivated to share her experiences on this podcast because she’s come to realize that ADHD manifests in a diverse multitude of ways and each new personal story makes it possible for another person to feel that self-recognition and potentially start living a more flourishing life.

Dr. Zheng and I also talk about mental health stigma especially in the Chinese-American community, as well as some of the barriers to understanding ADHD and neurodiversity within Chinese culture.

Website: robin-zheng.me

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

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Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

- - - - -

Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

- - - - -

Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

- - - - -

Order the “Hey, it’s ADHD!” course: www.womenandadhd.com/adhdcourse

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If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Carolina Ramirez: Emotional dysregulation & re-parenting our inner child

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 others to heal from emotional wounds, honor their truth and reclaim peace in their life. 

We talk all about the neurodivergent nervous system and emotional dysregulation, and Carolina shares how parenting her 10-year-old neurodiverse son helped her discover her own healing journey and her passion for supporting families. We also talk about strategies for re-parenting ourselves and our inner child.

Carolina also happens to be one of the organizers of The ADHD Summit, which is happening this week!

It’s a free online event featuring interviews with more than 30 ADHD experts, including myself and several former guests on this podcast. The summit runs for 4 days this week, from Oct. 17 to Oct 20, and you can watch the expert videos absolutely free for 24 hours, or you can purchase access to all of them for a year so you can watch them or rewatch them at your leisure. 

Whether you’re an adult with ADHD, a parent of an ADHD child, or a professional who supports a child, you do not want to miss out on this resource. I’ve been blown away by the value of this summit and am honored to have been a part of it.

I met Carolina because she interviewed me for the ADHD Summit, and I just loved our conversation and wanted to have her on the podcast to share her own story and her family’s story and just get a chance to chat with her again because she’s so wise and inspiring, as you will find out. 

Website: iamcarolinaramirez.com

Instagram: @carolinaramirezlcsw

Register for the ADHD Summit: https://bit.ly/TheADHDSummit 

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

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Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

- - - - -

Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

- - - - -

Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

- - - - -

If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Mallory Band: Learning when and how to ask for help

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 management and follow-through. 

She recently founded Band Together Education, a community that helps individuals with ADHD and learning differences reach their full potential. 

Mallory has written for ADDitude Magazine and Attention Magazine, and she is currently working on publishing her first book. Next month she will be speaking about imposter syndrome at the Annual International Conference on ADHD in Dallas. 

We talk about anxiety, especially anticipatory anxiety, both in childhood and adulthood, and how perfectionism and anxiety interrelate with ADHD. We also talk about chronic overwhelm and the many complicated difficulties we tend to face when it comes to asking for help.

Website: bandtogethereducation.com

Instagram: @malloryb_adhd

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

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Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

- - - - -

Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

- - - - -

Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

- - - - -

If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Paulina Chełstowska: Slavic women and ADHD

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 in foster care, and she advocates for play as a fundamental human right.

She is also the host of the Polish language podcast about women & ADHD called “Kobiety i ADHD.”

Paulina and I talk about the myth of laziness and prosperity, as well as some of the unique differences between the Western and Slavic perspectives on ADHD, especially in women.

Paulina is so expressive and perceptive, and I just know you’re going to love this interview. 

Facebook: @Kobiety.i.ADHD

Instagram: @kobiety_i_adhd

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

- - - - -

Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

- - - - -

Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

- - - - -

Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

- - - - -

If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Dr. Kellie Stecher: Rejection sensitive dysphoria & professional burnout

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 other companies focusing on patient and staff safety, and mental health.

She has won the Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine’s Top Doctors' Rising Star award for the last three years. She was recently runner-up for The Sharp Index: Physician Well-being Leader of the Year.  She also won a silver Anthem Award. 

She is the author of the book “Delivering,” a powerful personal memoir meant to empower women, mothers, working women, and women in healthcare.

Dr. Stecher and I talk about rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) and what it looks like starting in childhood and then following us into adulthood.

We also talk about emotional bandwidth, boundaries, and professional burnout, especially in healthcare.

Trigger Warning: We discuss sexual abuse in this episode, so if that’s a difficult topic for you, you might want to skip this interview.

Website: kelliestechermd.com

Instagram: @kelliestecher

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

- - - - -

Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

- - - - -

Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

- - - - -

Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

- - - - -

If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd

Christine Syrad: Subtitles, procrastination & fermentation

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 now resides with her husband and daughter. 

She is also the face of fermentable, where she not only teaches workshops to other chefs about the art of fermentation, but also packages and sells her own fermented products. 

Christine and I talk all about her globe-trotting childhood and mixed-race heritage, and how her ADHD contributed to her many varied career paths over the years, as well as how her hypersensitivity helped her learn so many languages over the years. 

We also talk about her years living in Japan and how ADHD is viewed in Japanese culture. 

Christine is an absolute delight and a wonderful storyteller — I truly hope you love this interview as much as I did!

Website: fermentable.ch

Instagram: @fermentable

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

- - - - -

Small group coaching with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/groupcoaching

- - - - -

Work 1-on-1 with Katy: www.womenandadhd.com/coaching

- - - - -

Finally ... you've found your people! Now come join us in the Women & ADHD online community: www.womenandadhd.com

- - - - -

If you are a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and you’d like to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to Katy via email womenandADHDpodcast (at) gmail.com.

Instagram: @womenandadhdpodcast

Tiktok: @womenandadhdpodcast

Twitter: @womenandadhd

Facebook: @womenandadhd