In this episode, ADHD + Entrepreneurs (my experience), I share about my recent diagnosis of ADHD Inattentive type and some very interesting things relating to entrepreneurship. The goal of this episode is to empower you! There may be things in your life that you feel are a disadvantage, or a hinderance, that seem to get in the way of success. BUT- I invite you to listen to this episode and start to look at things differently. What you perceive to be a disadvantage, might just be the thing that sets you apart and gives you THE advantage.
With ADHD, like with anything in life, there are pros and there are cons, there are ups and there are downs. It is all how you look at things and what you choose to focus on. If things are rough, pick yourself up and frame it differently and look at it as a positive. If you happen to have ADHD too, know you are not alone! Surround yourself with people who accept you for you and see the good in you. who take those things you struggle with and love you in spite of or even because of.
ADHD + Entrepreneurs (my experience)
What I talk about in this episode:
- I share what ADHD has looked like in my life. What was my tipping point when I decided I needed help? I share a few stories from my college years and open up to you with some real life examples of different ways that it has manifested.
- The fascinating thing about some of the traits of ADHD that are troubling life (as I am sure it is the same with other struggles as well) is that they can actually be beneficial in starting a business.
Here are some of the traits of ADHD and how they may be a benefit as a business minded individual.
These thing seem to be common in people who have ADHD:
- A Hyper-focus. Not an inability to focus like most people think. This can help with a business and I tell you how.
- Impulsivity…fire, ready, aim action. Sometimes as a new entrepreneur you may plan and think about things and then be afraid to make a move and carry those plans into action. As an entrepreneur with ADHD, the jump in and do it can be helpful to some degree.
- Attention Deficit…not paying attention to the details. I share a story here and why if you’re scared of the details and want perfection, you will have a hard time moving forward. I also share things I have learned and what I needed to implement in this area. Finding ways to cope and having strategies like automation is so helpful for those with ADHD.
- Very Creative! Outside of the box- come up with solutions thinkers. This is a positive trait for an entrepreneur. Ideas aren’t the problem- its narrowing down and focusing that is tricky.
- Always searching for better ways to do things and how to make things more efficient. This is obviously a plus.
- Mental Boredom. Boredom is like kryptonite for those with ADHD! We always want to get to the point, and quickly! BUT, this can help in business and in teaching.
- You tend to hyper-focus on things you find interesting.
Show notes
Books that I mention in this episode are:
- David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcom Gladwell
- ADHD 2.0by Edward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey
Also…
Coming in 2023 – a new mini podcast released every week! Be on the look out for my Mindset Mondays!
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Podcast Transcription
0:00
[Music] welcome to the craft to Career podcast with Elizabeth Chappell or every week we
dive into how you can turn your craft into a successful career get ready to have the career you’ve always dreamed of
[Music] welcome to episode 86 of the craft to
Career podcast I am Elizabeth Chapel of Quilters candy and this week I’m actually
I don’t know sometimes I wonder if I get a little too vulnerable but um but I’m going to
so I recently was diagnosed with and started medication for ADHD inattentive
and that has started me down the rabbit hole of studying about ADHD
becoming obsessed with it which turns out is a part of ADHD
and there is a lot that goes into this correlation between entrepreneurs and
people with ADHD in fact I’ve mentioned it just a couple of times with my audience and I have
definitely gotten interest where people are like that’s me that’s me I’m undiagnosed but I guarantee that’s me or
I am diagnosed and my goal and Hope is to eventually have someone on the
show who’s a specialist to talk more about this so I I want to talk about it today
just my experience and things that I’ve learned in this brief little time know that I am not an expert I am just
someone who’s going through it and there are some interesting things that I’m excited to talk about especially because
there is a higher percentage of people hmm how do I say this I guess people
with ADHD tend to gravitate towards entrepreneurship which makes sense when we dive down there down that path and
talk about it but before I dive in I also speaking of
I don’t know being vulnerable sharing all the things so the podcast is a
listening experience you are you know the sound quality is big for you listeners and I listened a
couple of weeks ago and noticed that I I just sounded a little different
and it’s so not to like oh TMI you know
too much information but I have been struggling with some
autoimmune issues for months now in fact not ideal but I’m going on my third
month of Prednisone and so what this manifests one of the ways it does is mouth sores for me
I would not bring this up however it has affected the podcast experience for you
listeners hopefully not bad and if you didn’t notice please
don’t go back and re-listen and like oh sure enough you know I will say if you listen this week I’m
hoping this is the last week and that the mouse heals and I don’t deal with this moving forward but it might be
another week or two where I just sound a little different but I did notice if you listen at one and a half speed or two
speed it’s not so bad so give that a try um but it also has led me to
down a path that I would not normally go I am going to and I’ve started doing
anti-inflammation diet which has been interesting so I we’ll see we’ll see how this goes
my goal is to do it for at least a month I’d love for it to become a new lifestyle habit um and you know I’ll be seeing a
specialist and whatnot but we’ll see if I end up wanting to share more about that and the effects of that
if it’s something that you’re at all interested in as an audience please let me know
but yeah so that’s a little bit about if you’re wondering and maybe you didn’t notice at all but I sure did notice when
I listened I’m like oh no you could tell so there’s that little behind the scenes
of Elizabeth and my health but speaking
of my health I guess we are on this topic it is up close and personal
so I recently was diagnosed with ADHD inattentive
and before I mean just a brief summary when I grew up it was like there was add
and that was what we now call ADHD inattentive and then there was ADHD
which was attention deficit hyper hyperactive and that’s where you’d picture people like not being able to
hold still well add is kind of done away with and now they’re both called ADHD
and you either just put hyperactive or inattentive or there’s one that’s combined that’s both so I am the
inattentive type and it’s just very interesting to read how
many people are successful entrepreneurs who have this so my goal of this entire episode is to
empower you that there might be things in your life that you feel like are a disadvantage or
a hindrance or are really frustrating and get in the way of your success
but I want to invite you to look at it differently that your disadvantage could
actually possibly be the thing that sets you apart and gives you an advantage
so I’ll talk about this in regards to ADHD inattentive however there’s also a
book called David and Goliath it’s it is actually not about it’s not like a Biblical book
uh it’s by Malcolm Gladwell and he talks about this very thing how people who have this seemingly on the
outside disadvantage it ends up being an advantage that helps them succeed
so let’s take a look at what ADHD has
looked like for me in my life I will say since being diagnosed
starting medication I’ve gone all in like obsessed with
learning more about ADHD and it’s been somewhat odd I feel naked like
how did you know that about me or a little bit like wait a minute am I still
me I feel like the things you’re describing were things that I thought were part of my personality but it turns
out it’s ADHD so where does Elizabeth end and where does ADHD begin because
it’s it it’s like it’s me I am this thing so anyhow I’m very new to all of this and
I’m still figuring out how I feel about it all and and I just started medication a couple
weeks ago and I will say I was really hoping that it would be a cure-all and that I would
all of a sudden not have these things but that hasn’t been the case it’s been great so we’ll talk we’ll talk about
that so first of all let’s talk about examples from my life
ways that looking back I’m like oh yeah sure enough oddly I don’t remember a ton
about my childhood my earliest memories of it begin in college so who knows
maybe maybe that’s when it really started manifesting itself in my life but in college
oh bless myself back then so okay a very I
was very ambitious but I you know wanted to jump in and do all the things but the follow through
was really lacking so I volunteered to be the president of
the College of humanities and that meant a few things I had some
meetings some Club parties I’d meet with the dean of the college
I highly respected the dean of the college I understand that
position and respect it and to like get to meet one-on-one with the dean in his
office it was a very cool like I was very humbled to do it but there were multiple times that I
forgot that I had a meeting with the dean that’s a big deal like you don’t just miss a meeting there’s you don’t do
that you know but I did and it wasn’t for lack of caring it was lack of
organization whatever you want to call it and it was so frustrating because I was like oh my gosh just pull yourself
together just get organized but um but alas it would happen
another time in college I was working with a friend and we had the night shift at the library and we were finishing up
and he lived close enough to walk and I had driven my car and I was like hey just wait here I’ll come pick you up I’m
gonna go get my car I’ll pick you up and bring you home so I walked to my car meanwhile lose my
train of thought hopped in my car head home thankfully I had a cell phone that was like a new thing and he had to go back
into the library he called me on myself and he’s like hey are you coming I was like oh my gosh like I I don’t know what to tell
you I forgot how how does the person do that like I literally just said and it
wasn’t him asking it was me initiating like no no let me do this for you and I just forgot
I don’t know it was not my normal routine I forgot again not for lack of caring not trying
to be rude nothing just just forgot then another time a college professor I
remember going in and I don’t it was an English literature class and I had to turn in a project
and I totally always procrastinated still do to this day and I remember
chatting with her and she was like I just feel like you don’t care about this project I feel like you threw it together at the last minute and you just
don’t care and I I if I didn’t cry then I know I cried at some point because it hurts so
deep like I cared and I wanted that approval so much from that teacher but I don’t I don’t know
how it’s describe it except nothing forces me like a deadline you know like if if there is no deadline I
wouldn’t do it um and I don’t know if that’s past tense or present tense I’m going to venture to
say present tense so it it hurt it hurt deeply that she would say I you don’t care because I did
care uh but she also had it partly right you know that I had done it at the last minute and it just crushed me that that
looked like to her that I didn’t care then uh fast forward a bit and I had a
trip planned with a friend I mean this is actually cost me relationships in my life
and we had planned a trip together well we were going to plan a trip it was
like okay Tuesday night eight o’clock I’m gonna come over and we’re gonna plan this trip and I forgot and she was so deeply hurt
she just couldn’t wrap her head around the fact she’s like if you wanted to go on this trip with me you would not have
forgotten about this and that just isn’t wasn’t the case you
know um I mean it’s very odd in my brain even I get frazzled when people are like hey
see you Friday at two I don’t know what Friday at 2 is
and sometimes I like I have to look at my it could be my birthday you know like I am throwing my own birthday party
at two but for whatever reason when someone just says the date and the time it throws me in this panicked deer in
the headlights like what and then I’ll look at the calendar and literally I’ve had people like do you not want to do that thing like did you
remember I’m like no no I actually totally am excited about that I want to go like
I just didn’t put it together what you did that that was this Friday too or sometimes I’ll double book stuff like
okay Friday at two I have this and then on the 13th I have this at two and then it’s not until that morning or 1 30 and
it’s almost two o’clock and I realize whoa this is the same day I double booked this thing oh no
um so that’s another way that it’s manifested itself another is my husband Brad bless his
heart he really has to take on a lot of what’s traditionally like the female
role and when I say bless him I don’t mean that as in like oh bless him you
know great husbands are totally capable that’s awesome um what I do feel bad about is my lack
of ability to help more because he is caring a lot and I’d really like to help
more with that and there have been a couple of times where he has said this is really hard for me I have to keep
track of all of the kids schedules and all of the teacher emails and
organizing life basically and that’s hard you know as a spouse as a mother as
a wife really deeply hard that I I am not proud
of that that’s you know I don’t want that to be our reality especially when I
see so many other people you know who just handle it and are able to do these
things and multitask and be at all the events and my reality is I just have less on my plate you know and and so
that that’s hard but um but we’re going to talk about how this can be a good thing so let’s hang in
there but the Tipping Point actually this summer The reason I finally made an appointment like
I’ve had my suspicions for years that I have struggled with ADHD uh
siblings of mine have that have been diagnosed medicated uh offspring of mine
but this summer my son was going to football camp and
one day we carpool you know I whenever I can I carpool which also leads to some
issues with ADHD oh boy but um but we carpool and one day my friend
needed a ride my son wasn’t going but I want to help when I can because you know
we all give and take here takes a village so I help out when I can because sometimes I lean on them so she said hey
can you pick my son up two o’clock at school yes yes I can I said
so fast forward to four o’clock that night and it I’m driving so I don’t even know what I just was like oh no I did
not I totally forgot and I felt so bad because my kid wasn’t there so it looked like I don’t care about their kid if my
kid’s not there so I call and her son is so quiet and
just he didn’t even tell his mom that I didn’t show up he had to walk in the hot Texas summer heat in the dead of the
afternoon on a busy busy road that’s not safe from school to home over a mile
and I was crushed I felt like the scum of the Earth
it put me in a dark place and I was like I cannot live life like this and it’s
it’s sad that it takes having this experience with someone else’s child you know when it’s not just
my own life but someone else’s child where I’m like that this can’t go on I actually need to get some help and
they couldn’t get me in for months and I was like sure I’ve waited 40 years
what’s another four months so um that was the Tipping Point for me
but with all of those things right so those all sound like not so great and they’re not like I
don’t want to kid you and say that having ADHD is a superpower and it’s amazing and there’s only positives as
with anything in life there it’s a double-edged sword there are two sides to the coin uh there’s always going to
be opposition there’s going to be good and bad so what’s fascinating however is that
a lot of these traits that can be very troubling in life can actually really be
beneficial to starting a business so let’s go I’ll go into what some of the traits are of ADHD but
first I will say it was very odd taking this um I don’t know intake survey if you will
with the doctor one of the questions was do you struggle with math I was like what how did you know yes I do
and another was talking about anger outbursts which again I was I’ve taken
medication to help with my emotions for years and it’s not even anxiety it’s
more like this bomb goes off and I need to lengthen that fuse so that there’s a little bit longer of a fuse before the
bomb goes off and then when the bomb goes off let’s make it a little smaller you know um
so it turns out that’s part of ADHD as well like just all of these things that I are
putting this puzzle together like wait what that is related and that like I
just had no idea so things that are common with people who
have ADHD one is actually a hyper Focus so
sometimes people think with ADHD it’s a lack of focus that it’s an inability to
focus when it’s actually the opposite it’s so zoning in on and tuning out the
rest of the world that you just forget like me hopping you know offering my friend a ride after
work getting in my car I was so focused on whatever else I was thinking about that I forgot about this other thing and
that’s 100 true I mean I get in the zone to where I get really upset if people
interrupt me I’m like I am in the zone do you not see this so learning some coping strategies of like if I’m working
and I’m going to be in the zone put a little sign on the door saying I’m working
right now please come back later so hyper focus and we can see how this
would be a pro in a business you get so zoned in you become obsessed if you
cannot tell I’m obsessed with business like the books that I read the things
that I think about and obsess over it’s business I’m hyper focused
my husband doesn’t get it I will forget to eat I’ll be doing something and forget to eat and I’ll be like I feel
like my head why do I feel weird oh my gosh when did I eat last he’s like what you are joking there is no way you
forget to eat I’m like uh you don’t really like you’re never just in the zone he’s like nope absolutely not
so that hyper Focus that hyperactivity it can really help you when you are
focusing on your business that you just become obsessed head down that’s what you’re doing
uh number two impulsivity again oh my gosh I’m reading this or listening to
this book ADHD 2.0 which was a suggestion from one of my Instagram followers I don’t remember who but thank
you for that one it was very good one of the best actually so if you feel like you have ADHD or or you do I highly
recommend that and having your loved ones read it as well so my husband doesn’t know it but I want
him to listen to that surprise but but yeah okay he talks about in that book he
uses the phrase if you’ve listened to this podcast before you’ve heard me say I now I’m getting him mixed up because he says a little different so he says
the term fire Ready Aim like if you were to take a gun someone’s ADHD you don’t
normally someone aim what is it aim
I can’t think of it you want to point your gun first make sure it’s focused and then shoot it
well with ADHD you shoot it and then you aim and you focus and so that’s a phrase
that I’ve said before and now for the life of me I cannot think of what it is ready aim fire there we are ready aim
fire so for me it’s fire Ready Aim and the author of ADHD 2.0 literally used that
phrase again I was like I feel very naked right now like how did you know
this about me that’s even a phrase that I use like you’re literally stealing the
words right out of my mouth so impulsivity how can that benefit a business owner
I’ve also mentioned this on the podcast before didn’t know it was a thing with ADHD but I have seen with my students in
the past this struggle where they do nothing either the Eternal student who
takes a course after course after course they know all the things but they don’t jump in and do it or they get paralyzed
with too many options or the fear of what if what if what if you’ve just got
to jump in and do the thing just do it and then if it doesn’t go well try it again learn study evaluate you
just have to do it like there has to be action and if you don’t ever take that action you just you never grow you never
learn you never fail you never succeed you just you nothing you know and so
turns out that this impulsivity is a big
Pro for entrepreneurs and it has helped people I mean I’m sure it’s also really
been detrimental but for the people who’ve been very successful uh it’s it’s
been amazing and then one that
if any of you listeners can think of how this would help now I’m like I will
think of something so another attribute is attention deficit this is the lack of
attention to detail you know what and I can’t think why this would be a pro obviously this is a con because
you’re not paying attention to the details in fact I will tell you a story today of what happened with me which is
so hilarious because I’m like oh I’m gonna do a podcast episode on ADHD and
then boom right in my face this thing happens I’m like oh Elizabeth come on like just pull it together
you’re even on medication this shouldn’t be happening but no it does so attention to detail the attention deficit
my spelling not great uh the story which is coming up however
just now sitting there like how could this be positive I totally can see how this is positive
I’ve mentioned before you need to be okay with putting out B minus C plus
work and a lot of you perfectionists out there are like nope not gonna do it that
even just hearing that or saying that makes me want to vomit here’s the deal it’s one of that it’s kind of like that impulsivity you just
have to do it just put it out there and once it’s out there you’ll tweak it it’ll get better but you’ve got to just
initially put it out there and yes there are going to be people who are like oh the spelling’s wrong or oh
that that means you’re going to sew on the bias and it’s going to be wonky or whatever you know there’s going to be
people telling you that you’re doing it wrong yes there always will be but you will
also find your people and you will get sales and you will grow an audience and so you just you cannot move forward if
you’re so scared about the details and getting everything perfect so being able
to let go of that a little bit allows you to grow does the growth look beautiful and Polished not necessarily
at least not when you’re talking about ADHD and the things that we’re talking about here but my goodness it gets you going it
gets you growing that business so the story which I’m glad I remembered this because
you know uh but okay so ADHD the thing that happened today so I
actually hired past alumni to be small group mentors in my quote
pattern writing course and it was actually awesome I loved it I 100
intend to do this moving forward and now there’s more and more alumni and so I’m just it’s very very exciting it was
really great for the people who took the course and were in a small group they had someone who graduated and has
started a business and could answer questions and and it took a little bit off of my plate to where they could have
this small intimate experience where my hand didn’t have to be in it and it was a small group whereas when we
meet it’s a big group so this allowed some really deep connections with people in the course and with an alumni so
anyhow this was a paid position and I highly value those
alumni who took on this job and you know I was going to say volunteer no they’re paid but who took on this position
and so the course wrapped up and I don’t know we’ll say two weeks ago because
everything I’m saying now is two weeks ago two weeks ago I told them okay I’m gonna pay you this week literally today
I don’t know if it was a box or email I got a message from someone a DM hey I’m
so sorry I didn’t see the payment come through it’s probably on my end I was like oh my gosh
how embarrassing I didn’t pay them so then I’m frantic like I I’m not
things we’re going to talk about coping strategies okay this is what not to do a things I’ve learned is to get my
employees to do these things for me because they have skill sets that I do not have so anyhow then I’m looking how much did
I say I was going to pay them so this is totally humbling please still
be my friend and podcast listener okay but this this is true story this is like
remove the curtains life with Elizabeth so I’m like oh how much did I say so I
reached out to my assistant who was also a small group leader and she’s like I don’t remember you saying and I was like okay well I think it was x amount that’s
like what I what I’d pay so I go and pay everyone and someone else reaches out she’s like
uh actually you said you’re gonna pay this which was more I had said I was going to pay more than what I paid them
which looks so bad one it looks like I don’t care and I paid you late two it could look like I’m trying to be cheap
and not pay you what I said I was gonna pay you so I paid them all you know I think my gosh
I need to go back and double check so that happened today literally today
and I’ve now been on medication which um again I feel very weird talking about
all this I know that some people are like no absolutely no medication or so I’m saying this and I hope it’s a safe
place where you can I don’t know be supportive of my decisions but um
vyvance so I started vyvance and it’s 10 milligrams a day and I definitely have
noticed some benefits one of which is I mean I sat down to write a pattern the
other day and I was just so in the zone the math came easily to me I was like
wait what this is not normal and even my tech editor she was like that was a really
well written pattern like very sound and I was like oh my gosh this medication is amazing I’m cured
I’m not cured of all the things it helps it helps me Focus but I’m still Elizabeth I still have these things so
things that I’ve learned that I really have to implement is I have to get help with organization
so for example right now in my business I know that this is not the case if you’re starting out this was not the
case when I did start out at this point I have employees so I and I have employees who have skill sets that are
very different from mine uh like my assistant Jamie she used to be a CPA she’s very mathematically sound very
organized very on top of things I mean gosh I’m so glad for her but she is
someone who honestly what I need to do next time is say here’s how much we’re paying them this is the date
do whatever you need to do create a spreadsheet do what you need to do and then pay them
on this day honestly next year I’m like let me just pay them at the beginning of the course because I heaven forbid I
forget again uh but learning how to get some strategies so another one is using apps
to automate things I mean automation is huge I the more I can just automate it
takes out the human error if I could I mean I was even thinking in Gusto it’s a way to pay your employees which I’m not
really going to set all those people up as employees because they’re contract workers but if I could just go in and
set it up where it automatically pays them on this day maybe PayPal will introduce that feature where you can set
up a payment to be scheduled does it have that feature it should if it doesn’t see there goes my creative brain
going going but uh yeah just finding ways to cope
saying okay this clearly didn’t work for me and not just this one time but that’s
that’s something I struggle with so what are some solutions that I can do to help with that
so some other traits that people have that have ADHD inattentive
they’re very creative think outside the box come up with Solutions
so again I thought this was like a cool thing about Elizabeth you know I in the
quilting atmosphere I hired someone once to make a quilt for me this was years ago
and I don’t know we’ll say half square triangle there was a half square triangle and they were like I ran out of
fabric I don’t have enough I’m not gonna be able to finish and I was like well wait look at these scraps over here I know it’s going to have a seam in it but
if you sew it together and I don’t remember why it was so frantic like I had to get done and it wasn’t easy to
find the fabric something but I was like no we can make we can make a block with that fabric it’s going to be a little
Scrappy and if people look close they’ll see that seam on the Haskell triangle but we let’s do that she was like oh no
I wouldn’t have thought of that and it was the first time I don’t know that I could recall probably not the first time ever but I was like huh
it seems rather obvious that you would just figure out a way to make it work you know like there there’s always a
solution I do remember growing up as a kid my mom getting so frustrated because I’d be like no we can make it work and
she’s like no the answer is just no and I was like but no I can figure out a solution and because I wanted the thing
you know probably to go to a friend’s house or who knows what but I was like oh I’ll get a solution so that that’s a trait
did I say is positive that you can think creatively I mean the ideas aren’t the problem you know if
you’re a creative entrepreneur especially with ADHD the ideas aren’t the problem it’s narrowing those down
and focusing and then another trait is always searching for better ways to do things
how to be more efficient it’s almost like an engineer type of a mind so that was fun to hear I’m like oh I do
have an engine to your mind a creative ADHD wanted that but I do
new ideas another trait is mental boredom boredom
is like Kryptonite for adhders um it we hate it we avoid it mentally we
will check out we will interrupt people if someone’s speaking and they’re taking a long time and you know what the point
is it’s very attempting to be like yep got it okay let’s move on or like answer the question and let’s get to the point
you know um this also though can be a very positive skill while annoying socially
and there are actually Sometimes some social skills that are lacking with ADHD I could be totally blind to this
I feel like I don’t totally I don’t know I don’t feel like I have that but but another thing is ADHD people are not
super self-aware so who knows maybe that is something and all of you listen you’re like actually
Elizabeth that is something you struggle with but um anyhow so interrupting people boredom but yes so this actually
can be a positive so for example I love to teach which ADHD people tend to make
good teachers and I think it’s because of this reason that boredom is a No-No like we are
going to get straight down to the facts cut out the fluff and get down to the meat of it I mean I’d like to think that
my podcast is kind of that way like one thing that would just pains me is listening to a podcast and I’m like what
is the point like get to the meat of it I want to know the facts what is the takeaway what can I Implement to make a
difference so that I feel like can be a big benefit as a business owner as an educator that you are going to get down
to the point and let people know this is what my product does this is how it will change your life this is why you need it
um so that can be can be great and then again the hyper focus on things
that you find interesting so that is going to be your customers hopefully
where you’re obsessing about how can I make this better for them how can I help them have success how can I you know
just that obsession over the thing that you find interesting
so you know just to to remind you again this is
this is a look at ADHD both you know the ugly truths in my life but also how it
actually has really helped me to grow my business I mean I I think my husband too
was shocked when this business kind of stuck because I’ve been a hopper I hopped from thing to think
when we first got married I worked at anthropology while I was student teaching and then I taught swim lessons
at the YMCA because someone told me that’d be great and I was bored in the summer heaven forbid I’m bored no no I
always had some kind of job I started my own tutoring business uh what else have I done just since
being married like if you go back to since my teenage years I mean I have always had a job always
had a job and and generally when I have a job I go into it thinking especially
as an adult how could I own my own company and run it more efficiently I mean I went to
Little Caesars the other day and it’s hot and ready you know and it was not hot and it was not ready and I
was sitting there like if I could just manage this store for two days and it’s not coming from a place of like I’m so
great but honestly my wheels are going and it’s like I okay I’m just standing
here as a customer and I can see this this and this and if we did this and if we had this like my mind is going in
Little Caesars about how to make it more efficient and and run things so anyhow I’ve always
been this this entrepreneur I I went to a writer’s conference I want I still want to become an author one day but it
was like fiction um all the things photography oh blogging I did fashion blogging
I want to start a makeup line for tweens like a perfect little kit for tweens that you’re just starting out makeup
here’s the basics here’s what you need not too much but just enough here’s what you use so all of these ideas and then
here I come I’ve never quilted in my life and I’m like I’m gonna start a subscription box for Quilters and can I
borrow 5 000 bucks I mean seriously bless his heart and for him to like really I do remember him
saying can you write a formal business plan and I was like um yeah no no I’m not gonna do that
which I feel like is the ADHD again where I’m like that’s nonsense we’re just gonna jump in and get this going
like let’s get this party started what’s this business plan nonsense that you’re talking about
um but it has fed my creativity Obsession
hyper Focus it’s really fed all the facets of my
dare I say personality ADHD like I said I don’t know where the line is I don’t
know where it starts and where I begin so um we’ll see as I navigate through this and
And the emotions are still up and down where I’m like yeah that’s right ADHD is a superpower and then I’m like no it’s
not it sucks I’m so sick of this it’s actually embarrassing like pull yourself together Elizabeth be an adult
um and then sometimes I’ll see people in the quilting Community who are just very engineer and so put together and I I
mean I say this I don’t know but I feel like sometimes they look at my work or
what I do and they’re like what in the who do you think you are going all crazy all over the place like offering this
and that and so you know I sometimes can get a little insecure about how I jump into things
especially when oh sure enough yeah there’s a lot of spelling errors right there or
you know it’s so I guess I’d like to think that I am aware of
you know my defaults but they don’t stop me Heavens no
um in fact I I don’t know if this is ADHD or me uh I’m very curious to find
out but that competition where if some and I’ve mentioned that before too but if someone tells me like no or like if I
can sense that someone is doubting my capabilities I am dead set to prove that oh no I will
and not just will but like I will succeed um so that’s that’s been an interesting
thing that that I didn’t know I had till till I started this business but maybe I did I don’t know anyhow
so to be clear ADHD is it’s not this glamorous like oh it’s the
superpower for entrepreneurs and if you don’t have it you can’t be successful and if you do you will it’s not bad but
just with anything in life there are pros and cons there’s ups and downs and
it’s what you choose to focus on I mean if I were to just mope around all day that oh my gosh I forgot to pay these
people and just not pick myself up I mean that could be the end of me you know but it’s not you just you have to
pick yourself back up whatever it might be whether it’s Health mental issues home life you know people in your life
maybe personal issues whatever it might be there is a way to frame it
differently and to look at it as a positive I mean you saw with me earlier what was
it um let me turn my page over here oh the attention deficit the not paying attention to details that give it a
second thought and that actually has helped me by being able to to jump in and do things and not overthink it and
not like I mean I don’t know that I I hate to put these limiting phrases out there but but here we go I don’t know
that I have the stamina or the capability to really sit and read
through my own work with a fine tooth comb if I did I guarantee the boredom would
kick in and I’d be like and let’s skip oh there’s the Highlight okay that’s why I need to hire other people to Tech edit
and do that fine tooth comb thing for me but I can be the the brains and the
Visionary and the the dreamer and the impulsive one and it’s been
really nice as my business has grown to be able to hire people to bring them on and say oh you have a special set of
skills okay does anyone else think of a movie when I say that what is it uh taken anyhow special set of skills they
have skills that I don’t have and by the way that little thing I just did there I
remember going to um to teach English and China and my roommate one day I I did that I brought
up some random like oh that reminds me and she was like wait what
how did you go from what we were talking about to what you just said and I felt
so stupid uh that was the first time someone had pointed it out to me that I do that because I do quite often
again a thing of ADHD which I don’t normally do on the podcast can you tell I’m gonna lay my hair down a little bit and like sharing a little bit of this
personal journey and experience with you but um I came home and one of my best friends I was like did you know that I
do that that I’m kind of embarrassed and she’s like I love that about you Elizabeth I it’s very endearing and I
mean it makes me a little emotional just thinking about it but the importance of surrounding yourself with people who
love and accept you for who you are who don’t put you down for those limitations I mean my heart still aches over the
friendship that I lost because of my ADHD and her not understanding that
these things that I do are in no way indicative of my love for her she just
couldn’t get her head around that and so sometimes that happens but to do the best you can to surround
yourself with people who see the good in you who love you for who you are who can
take those things that you struggle with and and love you in spite of because of
along with whatever it might be but uh just feel empowered with whatever it is
you might be struggling with and know that if you have ADHD You are not alone in the entrepreneurial World it really
draws in a lot of people because you get to work on your own schedule you don’t
have these outside deadlines that you’re not following through on you know it’s
your own which does lead to its own pros and cons but it definitely draws in the
ADHD years so let me know if you enjoyed this episode if this is something that you want to
hear more of if you would like to have a guest come on the show I I know I’d
personally like to have one of the authors of that ADHD 2.0 so we’ll see I need to start reaching out to these
people that I keep mentioning that I want to have on the podcast let’s see if we can get them on the show uh and then
as I mentioned at the very beginning some of my health things if you are at all interested in hearing about the
anti-inflammatory diet um working with health stuff I mean
it’s funny I say this it can always be worse but I I can at least speak to what I’ve experienced so if and I’ve talked
about it a little before we’ve had a few people in the past come on and talk about working with illness uh and I do
know that there was kind of an interest in that so let me know if the anti-inflammatory anti-inflammation diet
is something that you’re interested in hearing it’ll be a while because I want to like live it and do it and see
the effects of it um but let me know and yeah if this has
resonated with you or if you know someone who has ADHD and struggles with
that however that might look please share this podcast episode with them there is no need to go through these
things alone there are many of us out there and I know sometimes people are like oh it’s over diagnosed or people
use it as an excuse just uh I guess an invitation to be very
careful with that because it’s really hurtful and damaging when someone does
sincerely struggle with something and to have people tell them that it’s an excuse that they’re using
um it’s already hard and embarrassing enough to to deal with these things that just look like oh come on grow up you
know pull yourself together but then to have people feel that that that it’s not
real um can be really hard so I guess just for all of us some empathy that we just
never know what someone else is going through and we can always extend a little bit more love a little bit more
compassion to ourselves and to those around us so thank you so much for being
here this week on The Crafty career podcast I will be back next Friday with a brand new episode if you have not left
a review for the podcast I would love for you to do that just take a second go down push one of the you know star
reviews and if you can write up a review even better and one thing I am thinking of
implementing and hope to start recording soon is a mindset Monday and it might
not come for a while because I want to record like a lot but I think I am going to start and when I say this you guys if
you know me well enough you know the ADHD and me or whatever the impulsivity it’s gonna happen so
Monday mindset I every Friday you get this big podcast that’s like business
takeaway type of a thing but I want to be with you Monday mornings
with a little pick-me-up mindset some way to work on your mindset for the week so short we’re talking a couple of
minutes but just pop in say hi and give you a little pick me up for your mindset so that be watching for that on the
podcast sometime in 2023 it will be coming so I’m excited to bring that to
you next year at some point I will stay very non-committal with that date because I know myself but but it will be
coming so again thank you so much for being here I will see you next Friday right here on the crafty career podcast
have a great week [Music]
Jenni-Hope Kelland
Holy CRAP, that was an amazing podcast! I was diagnosed with ADHD Hyperactivity in my 40’s as a recently divorced, single mom of 4 going to school to become a Math teacher. I’m not a Mathematician but fell in love with Math because I struggled with reading. A friend said it wasn’t fair that she had the other ADHD and had to get her energy from caffeinated drinks. The hyperfocus bit was the only way I made it through yet at the same time made it a huge challenge. All my kids either have a degree or are working on it now because they saw me do it so they know they can! Thank you for being so open. I have no interest in having a business, in fact I am disabled and quilt because it’s my addiction for which I am so grateful.
Be sure to have your small group leaders listen to this so they get that it wasn’t intentional! I wish your long lost friend could hear it too.
Elizabeth Chappell
Jenni-Hope KellandOh you are so sweet! Thank you for your comments. I feel for all you’ve dealt with in life, as well! Way to go on getting your degree and teaching Math. That’s awesome! Thanks again for listening and reaching out.