Explore every episode of the podcast ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EP. 407: Misdiagnosed at 11: Molly Smith’s ADHD Story | 21 oct. 2026 | 01:12:36 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up What happens when a girl gets tested for ADHD and walks out with a different answer? At 11, Molly Smith was evaluated for ADHD and ended up diagnosed with anxiety. Her teachers noticed she couldn’t sit still and talked out of turn, but she was a good student who loved school, so the daydreaming, the chewed pencils, and the tears during timed math tests got chalked up to nerves. For the next decade, she blamed herself. When a therapist finally pushed her to get tested again at 21, the psychologist reviewed her childhood report and said she didn’t know how anyone could have missed it. Today Molly is a freelance writer and creative marketer, and the host of the movie podcast Did That Age Well? In this episode, we talk about what gets missed when a smart girl looks fine on paper, the cost of believing your struggles are a character flaw, and what changed when Molly finally understood her brain. If you keep thinking you should be able to handle things by now, there’s a lot here you’ll recognize. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 406: The Hidden Strengths of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria with Dr. Catherine Mutti-Driscoll | 14 oct. 2026 | 01:08:24 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up One critical comment. You can get a hundred lovely ones, and that’s the one you’re still thinking about hours later. Then you’re frustrated with yourself because why do you care so much? Dr. Catherine Mutti-Driscoll knows this feeling. She’s the Director of Executive Function Coaching at the Hallowell ADHD & Behavioral Health Center in Seattle and the author of The Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria Workbook. I had the honor of writing the foreword, and I’m so happy to have her back. We talk about why rejection can hit so hard, how the fear of it can influence choices we don’t even realize we’re making, and the part I especially love: the strengths Catherine sees in this sensitivity. Because when you’ve spent years wondering why you take everything so personally, there is a lot more about yourself you deserve to understand. If one critical comment can take over your week, this conversation will help you understand why it stays with you long after everyone else has moved on. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 405: Anita Robertson on ADHD and Motherhood: Being a Mom with ADHD | 07 oct. 2026 | 01:15:21 | |
Need help actually getting started? Join the A-OK Hive and get things done alongside other ADHD women: https://tracyotsuka.com/hive Anita Robertson prepared for everything when she became a mom. Then the parts nobody warned her about showed up anyway. Anita is a licensed clinical social worker, therapist, ADHD mom, and author of ADHD and Us. She's back on the show with her new book, Being a Mom with ADHD, and I was honored to write the foreword. Knowing her ADHD history, she had a plan for postpartum mental health. That part went fine. What blindsided her was everything else: a birth that left her barely able to move, sensory needs suddenly going unmet, hormones changing how her brain worked, and a son who didn't sleep through the night for three years. When an occupational therapist fixed his bedtime in a few weeks with a simple sensory routine, her first thought was, why is this not common knowledge? In this episode, Anita and I get into how pregnancy and hormones affect the ADHD brain, why she gave mom guilt a name and a villain's hat, what mom rage is actually telling you, and why she says stop fighting for consistency and redesign your setup instead. If motherhood has made you feel like you're losing your mind, this conversation will show you how much of it was never your fault.
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP 404: Thriving for 32 Years as an Attorney, Then Teaching Other Attorneys to Do the Same with Rosemary Hollinger | 30 sept. 2026 | 01:01:33 | |
Need help actually getting started? Join the A-OK Hive and get things done alongside other ADHD women: https://tracyotsuka.com/hive Some jobs make you feel brilliant. Others make you wonder what happened to your brain. Rosemary Hollinger is a certified ADHD coach who works with female lawyers and other analytical professionals. Before coaching, she spent 32 years at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, eventually becoming Head of the Chicago Regional Office and Deputy Director in Enforcement. She was trying cases, shutting down Ponzi schemes, working alongside people she liked, and getting plenty of stimulation from the work itself. Now she coaches lawyers who are every bit as smart and capable, but sometimes feel like they’re failing at the very careers they worked so hard to build. And this is where it gets really interesting. Because what happens when the problem isn’t whether you can do the work, but the way the work is set up? In this episode, Rosemary and I get into the parts of the legal profession that can be especially brutal for an ADHD brain, why the usual advice about priorities doesn’t always help, and something she discovered about her ADHD lawyer clients that genuinely surprised me. We also talk about what her own 32-year legal career taught her about the kind of work, people, and environment that can completely change how a brain performs. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP 403: Why Your ADHD Brain Works Better Around Other People | 23 sept. 2026 | 00:46:10 | |
Need help actually getting started? Join the A-OK Hive and get things done alongside other ADHD women: https://tracyotsuka.com/hive Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 402: The ADHD Engine: How Overwhelm Built a Seven-Figure Organizing Business with Jenny Dietsch | 16 sept. 2026 | 00:55:11 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Jenny Dietsch was the kid with papers flying out of her backpack, missing shoes, forgotten assignments, and parents asking, why can’t you just get it together? Today, she runs a seven-figure professional organizing company. And weirdly enough, that makes perfect sense. Jenny is a certified professional organizer and the founder of Getting It Done Organizing, a seven-figure home organizing and move management company in Dallas. She was diagnosed with ADHD in her 40s after two of her three kids were diagnosed first. Suddenly, a lot of her own life made sense too. Her doctor saw the irony right away: Jenny had spent years building the systems she needed to function, then built an entire business around helping other people do the same. Then the business scaled, and some of the chaos she thought she had left behind came right back with it. In this episode, Jenny and Tracy talk about why structure can create more freedom for an ADHD brain, what happened when Jenny’s growing business became too chaotic even for her, and how she rebuilt it using repeatable systems, workflows, and routines. If your life looks like chaos from the inside, this one is about what can change when you stop fighting your brain and start building around the way it actually works. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 401: The Confidence Effect: How Podcasts Are Changing the Way Women With ADHD See Themselves with Dr. Ann Bennett | 09 sept. 2026 | 00:46:50 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 400: ADHD & Entrepreneurship: How Holly Fowler Built Wable from the Ground Up | 02 sept. 2026 | 01:17:27 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Holly Fowler was the kid who got told she was too loud, too distracted, too much. She was also a C-grade student barely passing maths and science until an academic scholarship gave her a reason to care. Then she got straight As. That same intensity now fuels Wable, the global social network Holly founded for neurodivergent people to connect across friendship, dating, work, and support. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, she has since scaled the company across four continents. Diagnosed with ADHD in her early 20s, Holly can now see the clues all over her childhood, including years of school reports calling her easily distracted and distracting to others. In this episode, Holly and Tracy talk about ADHD as an entrepreneurial advantage, what rejection taught her about RSD, how she manages overthinking and constant decision-making, and what building a company has revealed about how her brain works under pressure. If you have ever been told your brain is too much for the room, this conversation explores what can happen when you build around it instead. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 399: How Two Years of Cognitive Training Changed Her Brain | 26 août 2026 | 01:21:44 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Tessa MacKay can spend hundreds of hours on a single painting. Her photorealistic work can look almost indistinguishable from a photograph, but for Tessa, that precision became more than technique. It became a way to work with her ADHD, dyslexia, and the way her brain processes the world. An Australian oil painter diagnosed with inattentive ADHD at 18, Tessa built a career around the kind of detail and focus that once helped her make sense of the world. But success also brought her face-to-face with the art world's complicated relationship with photorealism, forcing her to question how she thought, learned, and defended her own work. In this episode, Tracy and Tessa talk about what happened when she decided to retrain her brain, why painting could feel easier than everyday life, and how her latest project, Social Realism, turns forgotten Facebook photos into art. If you have ever wondered how someone can do something extraordinarily difficult while struggling with things that seem simple, this conversation goes there.
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 398: Voted Off the Island: The Marriage Rule Every ADHD Couple Needs with Jackie Kelley | 19 août 2026 | 01:06:45 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 397: Building a Business with ADHD: Clare Edwin on Finding What Finally Worked | 12 août 2026 | 01:11:03 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 396: Ozempic, Mounjaro & ADHD: Why Women Are Noticing More Than Weight Loss | 05 août 2026 | 01:06:33 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with this training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 395: Why ADHD Brains Reach for Alcohol with Faye Lawrence | 29 juil. 2026 | 01:14:47 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start here: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 394: The Chainsaw Sculptor Who Turned Her ADHD "Too Much" Into a Superpower | 22 juil. 2026 | 00:48:51 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start here: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 393: AuDHD, Decision Fatigue, and Rebuilding a Life That Actually Works with Dr. Shannan Palma | 15 juil. 2026 | 01:32:10 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start here: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 392: When You Finally Stop Fawning with Laura Pasley | 08 juil. 2026 | 00:55:30 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| Collect the Evidence | 06 juil. 2026 | 00:09:35 | |
Stuck in an ADHD pattern that keeps repeating? SHIFT is a collection of 120 guided audio experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD brain differently. Explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| Episode 391: What Happens When a School Is Built for ADHD Brains | 01 juil. 2026 | 01:12:47 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| Get Into Your Body | 29 juin 2026 | 00:10:57 | |
Stuck in an ADHD pattern that keeps repeating? SHIFT is a collection of 120 guided audio experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD brain differently. Explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift Have you ever noticed that the harder you try to think your way out of feeling overwhelmed, the more overwhelmed you become? You replay conversations. You worry about the future. You analyze every possible outcome. You keep thinking that if you can just solve the problem, you will finally feel better. But what if thinking is not the answer? For a long time, I thought the only way to feel better was to think differently. If I could just figure it out, solve the problem, or make sense of what I was feeling, then I would finally feel better. But sometimes the fastest way to calm your brain is not to think harder. It is to start with your body. When I get into my body, my attention has somewhere else to go. Instead of replaying my thoughts, I start paying attention to what I am doing, what I see, what I hear, what I smell, and what I feel. If you have ever tried to think your way out of overwhelm and only made yourself feel worse, this episode will help you stop asking your brain to do all the work and let your body lead for a few minutes. Resources: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start seeing yourself differently, explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift Listen to ADHD for Smart Ass Women: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 390: Can Cooking Be Therapy with Charlotte Hastings | 24 juin 2026 | 01:17:13 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| Success Creates Confidence | 22 juin 2026 | 00:11:51 | |
Stuck in an ADHD pattern that keeps repeating? SHIFT is a collection of 120 guided audio experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD brain differently. Explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift Have you ever had a really productive day and still felt like you didn’t do enough? You answered the emails. You made the calls. You went to the meeting. You finished the project. Maybe you even did the thing you had been putting off for weeks. And still, by the end of the day, your brain was already moving on to everything you missed, forgot, or still needed to do. Today, I want to talk about why success does not always feel like success for ADHD women. Our brains are often scanning for what is unfinished, unresolved, or potentially threatening. So even when we complete ten things, we can still end the day focused on the one thing we did not get done. But today, I want you to practice noticing what is going right. Noticing your progress. Noticing the effort it took. Noticing the evidence that you are capable, that you do follow through, and that you can do difficult things. Because success does not create confidence when we ignore it. Success creates confidence when we notice it. If you have ever struggled to feel proud of yourself, even after doing so much, this episode will help you pause long enough to collect the evidence your brain keeps overlooking. Timestamps: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start seeing yourself differently, explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift Explore more from me: Listen to ADHD for Smart Ass Women: Connect with me: #ADHD #ADHDWomen #ADHDforSmartAssWomen #AdultADHD #WomenWithADHD #LateDiagnosis #ADHDBurnout #ADHDSelfTrust #ADHDConfidence #adhdsupport Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 389: Planning Isn't About Productivity (And That's Why Most Planners Fail) | 17 juin 2026 | 00:33:58 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up _____ You bought the planner. You loved the planner. You were absolutely, positively sure this planner was going to change your life. And then, by March, you forgot it existed. When we moved out of our family home of 25 years, I found boxes. Boxes and boxes of barely used planners I'd been saving for who knows why. For a long time I thought that meant something about me. That I wasn't disciplined enough. That everyone else got some secret instruction manual for adulthood that I'd missed. But the women I work with aren't lazy or unfocused. They're brilliant, driven, running companies and raising families. And they can't stick with a planner either. That's when it clicked. This was never a planning problem. It's a time problem, a decision problem, and an emotional regulation problem. Planning is just where those show up. In this episode I talk about why ADHD brains experience time differently, why importance alone won't get you started, why most planners quietly set you up for an impossible day, and why one meaningful goal beats ten random ones. If you've got a planner graveyard sitting in a drawer somewhere, this one is for you. The question was never what's wrong with you. The question is what kind of system actually works for your brain.
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| Break the Spell | 15 juin 2026 | 00:11:53 | |
Stuck in an ADHD pattern that keeps repeating? SHIFT is a collection of 120 guided audio experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD brain differently. Explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift Have you ever noticed that some tasks feel impossible to start, even when they are not actually difficult? Maybe it is an email, a budget, a project, a decision, or one small thing you keep avoiding. From the outside, it looks like procrastination. But what if the task is not the real problem? In this first Monday Shift episode, I want to introduce you to a new way of looking at avoidance. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” I want you to ask a better question: “What does my brain think this means?” Because sometimes your ADHD brain is not resisting the task itself. It is reacting to the meaning attached to it. If you have ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unable to begin something that should be simple, this episode will help you look underneath the avoidance with curiosity instead of judgment. Resources: Explore more from me: Listen to ADHD for Smart Ass Women: Connect with me: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 388: How to Get Your Brain Online | 10 juin 2026 | 00:30:20 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up _____ You know what to do. So why can't you make yourself do it? If you have ever stared at one small task and quietly wondered what is wrong with you, I want to offer a different possibility. Nothing is wrong with you. Your brain already made a prediction about how that task was going to feel before you ever started, and a lot of the time you are not avoiding the task at all. You are avoiding that prediction. The email isn't an email anymore. It's criticism. The budget isn't a budget. It's shame. Once the task stops being the task, no amount of yelling at yourself is going to move you. In this episode I talk about why the same woman who can't answer an email can build a company, why your brain reaches for Instagram over the thing that actually matters, and the practical ways to break the spell: changing your visual field, moving your body, getting curious, and becoming a detective about what your brain thinks the task really means. If you have ever called yourself lazy for avoiding something you genuinely wanted to do, this one is for you. The problem was never willpower. It was the prediction. Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 387: The Hidden Cost of Being a High-Performing Woman with ADHD (with Kristen Baird-Goldman) | 03 juin 2026 | 01:01:12 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up _____ You look like you have it all handled. So why are you so exhausted? Kristen Baird-Goldman is a licensed therapist, ADHD specialist, and author of The CBT Workbook for Adults with ADHD. She has spent more than 15 years working with high-achieving neurodivergent women, and she is the owner and clinical director of the Neurodiversity Care Center in Los Angeles. Diagnosed with ADHD in her 40s, and someone medication never worked for, Kristen has built her practice around the quiet cost of high performance, especially for women moving through perimenopause. She treats ADHD as a whole-body issue, looking at the nervous system, hormones, and functional health instead of one more productivity hack. In this episode, Tracy and Kristen get into why hyperfocus fools you into thinking you are fine, what high performance is actually doing to your brain and body underneath the productivity, and what real recovery looks like. If you have built an identity around doing more and pushing through, this one is your permission slip to stop. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 386: The Gender Bias Around ADHD in Women | 27 mai 2026 | 00:46:20 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ As women with ADHD, we are not only dealing with executive dysfunction. We are also dealing with medical systems, gender roles, and social expectations never built with us in mind. In this episode, I’m talking about why ADHD in women is so often missed, misunderstood, and shaped by gender bias. We’ll start with Tiffany McIntosh’s story of growing up “too much” in a world where she was expected to sit down, be quiet, and become the kind of woman society wanted. Her story speaks to so many ADHD women who are ambitious, curious, intense, and brilliant, while also carrying shame because domestic expectations, caregiving roles, and feminine ideals don’t fit the way their brains work. Let’s break down how medical misogyny, gendered roles, and gendered bias shape ADHD diagnosis, treatment, motherhood, domestic labor, and self-worth. If you have ever thought, “I should be able to do this,” this episode will help you question who taught you that, who benefits from it, and what changes when you stop measuring your worth by work you were never designed to carry alone. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 385: When Anxiety Runs Your ADHD Brain with Dr. Tamara Rosier | 20 mai 2026 | 01:08:26 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ A lot of ADHD women are not using executive function to get things done. They are using anxiety. If panic, pressure, or shame is what finally gets you moving, this episode explains why. Dr. Tamara Rosier is an ADHD coach, founder of the ADHD Center of West Michigan, and author of Your Brain’s Not Broken. Through her work with adults, families, and students, she helps people understand the emotional side of ADHD in a way that feels practical, concrete, and deeply human. Tamara realized that many ADHD brains are not relying on calm systems to transition, prioritize, or follow through. Instead, they are using emotional intensity to create enough urgency to act. Fear to remember. Shame to stay motivated. Anxiety to get started. That shift changed how she approached ADHD support. Instead of focusing only on productivity strategies, she began helping people understand the emotional patterns underneath the behavior first. Because when the nervous system is overloaded, no planner or system will stick for long. In this episode, we talk about the “angry neighbor” versus the “butler” brain, why transitions feel so hard, and how divergent thinking can turn one small problem into twenty imagined outcomes. We also get into emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, humor as regulation, and why so many ADHD women feel emotionally exhausted even when they look high-functioning on the outside. If you have ever wondered why you can only seem to function under pressure, this episode will help you understand what your brain has been relying on all along. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 384: ADHD Women Were Never Meant to Work Like This with Meghan French Dunbar | 13 mai 2026 | 01:11:35 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ You worked harder than everyone around you and still felt like you were falling behind. This episode unpacks why the workplace was never built for your ADHD brain. Meghan French Dunbar, author of This Isn’t Working, is an entrepreneur, former business journalist, CEO, speaker, and workplace consultant. After years of building and selling a company, going to grad school, launching a media career, and burning out more than once, Meghan was diagnosed with ADHD only four years ago. That diagnosis reframed everything. Instead of forcing herself into traditional work models, Meghan started building systems around how her brain works best, from stronger boundaries and values-based decisions to AI support, intentional work hours, and a new definition of success. In this episode, Tracy and Meghan talk about late ADHD diagnosis, ADHD workplace burnout, entrepreneurship, guilt, toxic management, and why so many high-achieving women leave jobs before anyone connects the dots with ADHD. If achievement has always been your scorecard, this conversation offers a better one: purpose, passion, quality of life, and work your brain is able to sustain. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 383: It’s Not Your ADHD. It’s Your Nervous System with Liz Tenuto, The Workout Witch | 06 mai 2026 | 00:51:31 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What if your “motivation problem” has nothing to do with discipline? In this episode, Tracy sits down with Liz Tenuto, better known as The Workout Witch, to talk about the body, trauma, neurodivergence, and why so many ADHD women feel stuck even when they know exactly what they need to do. Liz’s work focuses on somatic healing, using small, accessible movements to help the nervous system release stress and come out of survival mode. But this conversation goes far beyond movement. Liz and Tracy talk about what happens when a body has spent years bracing, masking, people-pleasing, and trying to stay safe. They get into CPTSD, ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivities, functional freeze, and the difference between pushing through and actually feeling regulated enough to act. Liz also shares how her own diagnoses helped her understand parts of herself she had spent years trying to explain away. This episode is for anyone who has ever looked at their life and thought, “I know what to do, so why can’t I do it?” Because the answer isn’t always more motivation. Sometimes, the first step is helping your body feel safe enough to move.
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 382: What’s Really Behind RSD? with Dr. Shawn Horn Pt 2 | 29 avr. 2026 | 01:06:40 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ In part one, we talked about her story. In this episode, we go deeper into what shame actually is. She explains that shame is not internal. It is a social emotion that forms when we feel like we have violated someone else’s standard, and for many ADHD women, that correction starts early and happens often. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 381: Diagnosing Everyone but Herself with Psychologist Dr. Shawn Horn | 22 avr. 2026 | 01:06:12 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ The hardest part of ADHD is not the symptoms themselves, but the shame story built around them?
Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 380: Smart, Capable… and Still Struggling with Friendship? Let’s Talk (with Caroline Maguire) | 15 avr. 2026 | 01:04:15 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What if the hardest part of friendship isn't meeting people, but knowing when a connection is real? For a lot of ADHD adults, friendship still feels confusing, painful, or just out of reach. Not because they don't care, but because the actual steps were never clear. How do you move past an acquaintance? How do you know if someone genuinely likes you? How do you stop rushing in and ending up hurt? Caroline Maguire has spent 21 years answering exactly those questions. She's a coach, educator, and author of Why Will No One Play With Me and the newly released Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults, the first book by a neurodivergent person, for neurodivergent people, on friendship. Diagnosed with ADHD at 12 but told it wouldn't matter because she was a girl, she grew up carrying what so many ADHD women carry: the weight of feeling socially behind without ever knowing why. What changed everything was breaking friendship down into something learnable. Patterns. Stages. Signs. Instead of treating connection like something that should just happen, she teaches how to actually build it. From understanding the impulsive friendship cycle, to recognizing that trust is a track record, not a feeling, to knowing the difference between a participationship and a real friend. If you've ever felt like you missed the memo on friendship, this episode will show you that nothing is wrong with you. You may have just been moving faster than the relationship was ready for. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP 379: ADHD, Medication, and What Actually Works with Maggie Alexander, MS, PMHNP | 08 avr. 2026 | 00:50:02 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup Are you on the right medication but with the wrong dose? Maggie Alexander is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who has spent over a decade treating ADHD in teens and adults. Since 2013, she has worked with hundreds of patients using a holistic but grounded approach that includes medication, micronutrients, and targeted strategies. When she first entered the field, she did not even believe in ADHD. That changed after a patient came to her suicidal, despite looking like he had everything together, and then improved within days on the right medication. That experience pushed her to question what she thought she knew and learn how ADHD treatment actually works. In this episode, we talk about why stimulant medication fails for so many people, how to find the right dose, what side effects are actually telling you, and how labs, genetics, and hormones can shape treatment. If medication has not worked for you, this conversation may change the way you think about it.
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 378: Tech is Stealing Your Attention. This Gives It Back with Dr. Nodira Khoussainova | 01 avr. 2026 | 01:04:48 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup What happens when someone who helped build attention-grabbing tech decides to help people get their focus back?
Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 377: Decluttering and the ADHD Brain | 25 mars 2026 | 00:28:53 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Clutter is not just about stuff. It is about how your brain processes what is in front of you. In this episode, I walk through the connection between clutter, overwhelm, and how ADHD brains track what matters. For a lot of us, clutter builds up not because we do not care, but because when something is out of sight, our brain stops tracking it. So we leave things out. Papers on the counter, sticky notes everywhere, piles that slowly grow. Over time, that visual noise turns into stress, decision fatigue, and avoidance. The shift is realizing clutter is not just physical. It is emotional too. Every pile can carry delayed decisions, unfinished tasks, and stories we start to believe about ourselves. In this episode, I talk about why clutter builds up for ADHD brains, how it reinforces overwhelm, how tapping can help regulate the emotional response, and simple ways to get started without freezing. If clutter has been weighing on you, start smaller than you think. One surface. Five minutes. That is enough to shift your energy and begin building trust with yourself again. Remember: the goal isn't a Pinterest-worthy desk. It's one shift forward that makes your brain feel like it can breathe again.
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 376: Rethinking How We Learn (Because It’s Not Working) with Deena Kara Shaffer | 18 mars 2026 | 01:15:02 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What if the problem was never that you were bad at learning, but that no one ever taught you how to learn in a way that fits your brain? Dr. Deena Kara Shaffer is the founder of Awakened Learning, bestselling author of Feel Good Learning and Raising Well Learners, and a learning strategist who helps students, families, educators, and leaders build systems that work in real life. Her work began with bright students who were struggling, not because they lacked ability, but because they lacked the right support. Over time, she realized that study skills alone were too narrow. What people really need are learning strategies that take attention, memory, time, well-being, and emotional capacity into account. In this episode, Tracy and Deena talk about why sleep matters for learning, how chunking tasks can reduce overwhelm, why learning styles are a myth, and how tools like NotebookLM, Magic To Do, and ChatGPT’s study mode can support ADHD brains. If learning has ever felt harder than it should, this conversation is a reminder that struggling does not mean you are not smart. It may simply mean you have not been taught in a way that fits your brain.
Website: https://www.awakenedlearning.ca/deena Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 375: You Get to Decide Who You Are | 11 mars 2026 | 00:32:49 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Most of us never actually choose our values. We absorb them from parents, culture, and community, and then wonder why our lives feel like a scratchy sweater we can't take off. That works for a while until something starts to feel off. Nothing is technically wrong, but you have the sense that the life you're living may not actually fit you. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 374: You Don’t Need One System. You Need 100 with Dani Donovan | 04 mars 2026 | 01:12:57 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What if the problem was never you… but the tools you were handed? Dani Donovan is an award-winning ADHD creator, bestselling author, designer, and founder of the Anti-Boring Project. Her book The Anti-Planner: How to Get Shit Done When You Don't Feel Like It has sold over 100,000 copies. Dani was diagnosed with ADHD as a freshman in college after years of being told she was too smart to have it. She did well in school, pulled all-nighters, burned herself out, and quietly assumed the everyday stuff she couldn't manage, laundry, hygiene, keeping up with life, were character flaws. They weren't. They were executive dysfunction. Once she finally understood her brain, she started translating that into art. Her ADHD comics took off fast, her first hit 100 million views and was shared by Mindy Kaling. That reach turned into something bigger: The Anti-Planner, a 100+ strategy toolkit organized around how you're feeling when you're stuck, not around dates. In this episode, Dani talks about why traditional planners fail ADHD brains, how she mapped procrastination by emotion, what tools like "how to half-ass it" look like in practice, and what she learned self-publishing 40,000 pre-orders while running a business with no business background. If you've ever felt like you were the problem because you couldn't stick with a system, this episode will shift that. You don't need one perfect tool. You need the right tool for the resistance you're facing. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 373: Stories We Tell Ourselves (And About Each Other) | 25 févr. 2026 | 00:29:47 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Your ADHD brain is one of the best storytellers in the room. The problem is it doesn't always know when it's making things up. I'm recording this two days before movers arrive, from a house I no longer own, in a t-shirt, with dilated pupils. Classic. I sold Bullfrog Farms, my six-and-a-half-acre country home, and decided to do the most opposite thing possible: move into a high-rise in San Francisco. Three HOA rejections later, all because of two small dogs named Teddy and Moe, I went from "this is inconvenient" to "we're basically going to be homeless" in under a week. That spiral brought me back to something I keep teaching but had to relearn myself. In this episode I talk about the ADHD brain's compulsive need to fill uncertainty with narrative, the difference between reacting to a story and reacting to data, why public criticism hits differently than private criticism when your nervous system has no agency, and how a misidentified baby egret became the most honest lesson of the month. If your brain has ever taken one rejection, one unanswered text, one hard week, and turned it into a verdict about your entire life, this one is for you. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 372: Motherhood, Hormones, Trauma and Addiction with Dr. Anupriya Gogne | 18 févr. 2026 | 01:20:39 | |
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What if the season that feels the most destabilizing is the moment your brain is asking to be understood differently? Dr. Anupriya Gogne is a board-certified addiction psychiatrist specializing in perinatal and reproductive psychiatry at Brown University Health. She recently authored Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Adult Women. When Dr. Gogne became an attending, her caseload doubled overnight. She stayed late finishing notes while colleagues went home. Around the same time, she impulsively adopted a baby husky. Six years into her career, testing confirmed ADHD and NVLD, a visual-spatial learning difference that explained why she didn't drive until age 30 and why every parking lot looked identical. Now she treats pregnant and postpartum women with ADHD, addiction, and trauma. In this episode, Tracy and Dr. Gogne discuss ADHD and NVLD in adult women, how visual spatial differences show up in daily life, the overlap between trauma and addiction, the role of stimulants in recovery when carefully managed, and why pregnancy and postpartum can intensify symptoms through hormonal shifts and sleep deprivation. If you are in a season where your systems stopped working, this conversation offers context. Sometimes it feels out of control because it is out of control. And that means you need support, not shame. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 371: When the Problem Isn’t You - It’s the System with Stephanie Ray | 11 févr. 2026 | 01:11:43 | |
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 founder of Growthset Coaching. Diagnosed with ADHD in her early 30s, Stephanie spent years succeeding on the surface while quietly struggling with memorization, rigid study methods, and performance pressure in law school and legal practice. Once she understood how her brain learns best, she stopped forcing traditional systems and built visual, movement-based, and story-driven approaches that actually worked. Tracy and Stephanie break down why standard study advice often fails ADHD learners and what makes information stick instead. They also cover imposter syndrome, accommodations, time blindness, and task initiation, along with practical strategies for studying, exam prep, and managing demanding careers. If you feel smart but still behind, this episode will help you see why and what to change. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 370: When You Flip Your Lid: How to Let the Glitter Settle with Lyndsay Morris, M.ED. | 04 févr. 2026 | 01:10:43 | |
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 what actually helps ADHD brains learn and regulate. Lyndsay shares how masking as the “good student” kept her ADHD hidden for years and why school only worked when learning felt engaging. What once looked like boredom, emotional sensitivity, and focus struggles were never a lack of effort. That realization reshaped her work. After years in classrooms, Lyndsay saw how often dysregulation was treated as defiance and punished instead of supported. Her approach centers on regulation, connection, and reflection as foundational skills, not behavior control, including her Regulate, Connect, Reflect framework and simple nervous system supports like movement and emotional safety. Tracy and Lyndsay also explore ADHD masking in girls, why adults must regulate themselves before expecting kids to do the same, and what changes when schools stop shaming and start teaching skills. This conversation offers practical, brain-based tools for parents, educators, and adults who want to build capacity rather than compliance. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 369: Why Everything Feels Unsatisfying | 28 janv. 2026 | 00:19:15 | |
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, sugar, urgency, or constant stimulation leaves so many women feeling flat or burned out. ADHD brains don’t have a broken gas tank. They have a sticky accelerator. The issue isn’t pleasure. It’s how often and how intensely we spike it. Tracy explains dopamine spikes versus baseline, why wanting outpaces liking, and why novelty driven motivation fades so quickly for ADHD brains. Drawing on neuroscience research, she shows how constant stimulation lowers baseline motivation and turns productivity hacks, new planners, and systems into part of the same dopamine loop. This has nothing to do with discipline or follow through. It’s biology. The episode closes with practical ways to work with dopamine instead of fighting it, including dopamine pauses, time bound resets, replacement instead of restriction, and small doses of productive discomfort. Tracy explains why confidence comes from self trust and why environment design matters more than willpower. Dopamine isn’t the enemy. It’s fuel. Learning how to steer it changes everything.
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 368: This Is What Alignment Feels Like with Clare Adams | 21 janv. 2026 | 01:09:29 | |
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 identified. Clare’s story is full of movement and reinvention: 24 moves, a career that spans law, healthcare, finance, airline operations, marketing, and fundraising, plus a strong pull toward creativity, connection, and service. She also shares how her diagnosis first brought grief and a fix-it mindset, and what helped her come back to self-trust. We get into what changes when you stop treating ADHD like a trade-off and start seeing the “good and bad” inside the same trait, why supportive environments matter more than willpower, and why connection isn’t optional for long-term wellbeing. Clare also shares the real-world workarounds she relies on (including “racing the kettle”), the phrase that stops her perfection spiral, and the meaning behind “pretirement,” her choice to build a values-led life now instead of waiting for later. If you’ve ever felt pulled between who you are and who the world wants you to be, this episode will feel like a deep exhale.
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 367: You Can Be Right And Still Feel Miserable; The Emotional Cost of Needing to Be Understood | 14 janv. 2026 | 00:23:56 | |
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 doesn’t just feel uncomfortable. It can feel unsafe. When that happens, the nervous system takes over. The brain speeds up. We explain more. We repeat ourselves. Not because we’re trying to win an argument, but because our body is trying to prevent rejection. We explore how rejection sensitive dysphoria, a reactive amygdala, and years of being misread wire ADHD brains to overexplain as a form of self protection. Let’s unpack why overexplaining is not a communication problem, it’s a nervous system response. We explore rejection sensitive dysphoria, the empathy gap, and why saying more often creates more distance, not more understanding. We also talk about the shift that changes everything: moving from chasing understanding to choosing safety, and how to protect your energy without shrinking, defending, or disappearing. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 366: You Don’t Need a New Year. You Need a New Lens. | 07 janv. 2026 | 00:48:24 | |
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 by now.” In this episode, let’s break down the simplest framework that explains why you feel stuck: your thoughts create your feelings, your feelings drive your actions, and your actions create your results. When an ADHD brain gets caught in rumination, catastrophizing, and “monkey mind” loops, it can feel like you are working on the problem when you are really just flooding your system with fear. You will also learn practical ways to step out of that spiral, including mindfulness basics and the STOP skill (Stop, Take a breath, Observe, Proceed) for regulating your nervous system in real time. Learn how to use intention, visualization, and positive emotion in a grounded way that actually supports ADHD brains, plus why the goal is not “never feel negative,” but learning how to guide your mind back to safety so you can move again. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 365: One Word, One Brain, One Damn Good Year | 31 déc. 2025 | 00:32:33 | |
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 systems, this episode explores the power of choosing one word to guide the year and why simplicity works so well for ADHD brains. Tracy walks through the science behind why a single, emotionally charged word is easier to remember, easier to act on, and more motivating than long to do lists or rigid plans. The episode also shares the personal experiences that shaped Tracy’s word for 2026, including major family health events, big transitions, and the decision to let go of a long time family home. Along the way, she explains why ADHD brains do not thrive on more, how clutter and obligation quietly drain cognitive bandwidth, and why subtraction can actually bring clarity, creativity, and energy back online. You’ll hear how subtracting is not about minimalism or doing less for the sake of it, but about making space for what actually matters. From simplifying systems and commitments to questioning beliefs that no longer fit, this episode offers a grounded way to think about growth that does not rely on pressure or perfection. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, or ready to stop carrying what no longer fits, this episode is for you. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| Ep. 364: *Encore*: The Doctor Who Changed the ADHD Conversation | 24 déc. 2025 | 01:05:06 | |
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 is a board-certified child and adult psychiatrist, and a New York Times bestselling author. He, along with Dr. John Ratey wrote what Tracy considers to be the bible of ADHD, Driven to Distraction. Now retired from the faculty of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Hallowell has been featured on 20/20, 60 Minutes, Oprah, PBS, CNN, Today, Good Morning America, and in The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Time. He is a regular columnist for ADDitude magazine, and is also the host of his weekly podcast called Distraction. Dr. Hallowell is the founder of The Hallowell Centers in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Seattle. He lives in the Boston area with his wife and their three grown children. Resources: Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 363: The Dopamine Crush: ADHD, Longing, and Romantic Obsession | 17 déc. 2025 | 01:01:50 | |
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 outside, her life looked accomplished and disciplined. Inside, she struggled with distraction, emotional intensity, anxiety, and a lifelong pattern of romantic fixation. In this episode, Amanda shares how ADHD showed up quietly in her life, from trichotillomania and overthinking to using extreme exercise as a form of self regulation, long before she had language for what was actually happening. The conversation centers on limerence, a psychological state of intense romantic longing marked by obsession, idealization, and emotional highs and lows. Amanda explains how limerence thrives on uncertainty, making it especially powerful for ADHD brains that crave novelty and fast dopamine. Tracy and Amanda explore how rejection sensitivity, perfectionism, and trauma can blur the line between desire and self worth, and why many women mistake intensity for connection. Amanda also shares how chasing emotionally unavailable partners became an organizing force in her life, and how that pattern kept her stuck in fantasy instead of intimacy. She also had to confront a deeper truth: real intimacy feels quieter than fantasy. Today, Amanda is married to a securely attached partner and is the author of When Longing Becomes Your Lover, a deeply personal exploration of limerence, ADHD, and what it takes to receive love instead of chasing it. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||
| EP. 362: From RSD to Seeking Rejection: A Young Nurse’s ADHD Playbook | 10 déc. 2025 | 00:43:17 | |
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 seriously. From age thirteen through twenty-one, she told her pediatrician every year, “I think I have ADHD,” and every year she heard the same dismissal: good grades and good behavior meant she couldn’t possibly have it. It wasn't until her last semester of nursing school, during a three-day panic attack, that she finally found a therapist who listened. At 23, she was formally diagnosed with combined-type ADHD and started on Adderall. Today Nina works in the pediatric emergency room at the same hospital where she fell in love with the chaos during her final clinical rotation. She calls herself an energizer bunny, moving so fast that a pediatrician once told her, "Nina, don't fix whatever's going on up there." That was the moment she realized her ADHD wasn't a disability. It was her superpower. In this conversation, Tracy and Nina talk about growing up emotional and misunderstood, finding your people early, seeking rejection on purpose to heal rejection sensitivity, and why the ER is the perfect place for an ADHD brain that never gets bored. For any listener in their twenties who feels unsure about the future, Nina offers the clarity so many of us need at that age: follow what interests you, work with the brain you have, and stop chasing a version of “productive” that does nothing but make you miserable. Resources:
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Explore more from me: ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up Connect with me: Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book | |||