Running a business with ADHD isn't hard because you're distracted. It's hard because most business advice wasn't built for your brain.
Many entrepreneurs with ADHD try to solve business challenges with more productivity hacks, stricter routines, or systems they can never quite sustain. Others keep chasing new ideas, opportunities, and strategies, hoping the next one will finally make everything click.
The result? More cognitive load, more unfinished projects, more decision fatigue, and often more burnout.
ADHD-ish™ is the podcast about ADHD business strategy for business owners with ADHD who want to grow a successful company without forcing themselves to think, work, or lead like everyone else.
Each episode explores the real-world challenges of running a business with ADHD, including ADHD business growth, delegation and accountability, decision-making, executive function in business, burnout prevention, leadership, and building business systems that actually work for your brain. You'll hear practical strategies, honest conversations, personal stories, and expert insights designed to help you make better decisions, follow through on what matters most, and create sustainable success.
I'm Diann Wingert. As a business coach, former psychotherapist, serial entrepreneur, and the creator of ADHD-ish™, I've spent years helping entrepreneurs and business owners with ADHD stop fighting their brains and start building businesses that work with them.
Whether you're an ADHD entrepreneur, an ADHD small business owner, or a founder trying to scale a business while managing the realities of ADHD, this show will help you lead more effectively, grow more intentionally, and build a business that's designed for the way you think.
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Have you ever wondered why some neurodivergent business owners just seem to get so much done and others have a permanent seat on the struggle bus? Is it medication, meditation or exercise? Is it their morning routine or have they simply found the perfect productivity strategy that continues to escape you?
In honor of ADHD Awareness Month, I’m sharing a game-changing strategy that has the power to lift your mood, energize your day, and keep you on track – introducing the Dopamine Menu! 🧠✨
First introduced by YouTuber Jessica Mc Cabe of “How to ADHD” and Eric Tivers of ADHD Rewired, the Dopamine Menu (or dopamenu for those who love shortcuts…) is a simple but wickedly effective tool for meeting our brain’s need for stimulation and reminding us where to get it, without getting ourselves into trouble.
Dividing the things that stimulate our brains and give us a squirt of joy juice (dopamine) into easy to remember categories that resemble a restaurant menu - starters, mains, sides and desserts keeps the Dopamine Menu feeling playful and fun, so we will actually take advantage of it.
The dopamine menu is to the ADHD-ish brain what meal planning and prep is to those who want to eat a healthier diet, but just can’t seem to break free from snack foods. The best part about having a Dopamine Menu is that you don’t have to follow it perfectly and you can change it up whenever you want, so it stays shiny and new.
🎙️ What You'll Learn:
The truth about stimulant medication and mood
How dopamine effects mood, energy and motivation
A step-by-step guide to create your own Dopamine Menu
Tips for making your Dopamine Menu convenient, effective, and sustainable
Suggestions for using your Dopamine Menu for dealing with procrastination, impulsivity and losing the day to social media
Create a dopamine menu and post it on social media to get my feedback & I’ll shout YOU out on a future episode:
Listener Shout Out: This week's shout out goes to long time listener, Andrea Sousa, a paralegal and law student who shared how her ADHD traits of curiosity and hyperfocus help her excel at locating difficult to find names and addresses, to the amazement of everyone in her office. Thank you, Andrea, for spreading awareness and celebrating the unique strengths that come with ADHD!
Caring is Sharing: If you're enjoying ADHD-ish, please share the podcast with another neurodivergent business owner. It's ADHD Awareness Month, so let's spread that awareness far and wide!
Using Curiosity, Novelty & Fun to Grow Your Business
Episode 232
Tuesday, October 15, 2024 • Duration 46:58
Welcome to another episode of ADHD-ish, where we explore the intersection of entrepreneurship and the unique traits of ADHD.
Today, we’re thrilled to have Jackie Aguglia, head of partnership and growth at Interact, join us. She's here to share invaluable insights on how curiosity, novelty, and fun can be leveraged to grow your business through the innovative use of quizzes.
We'll explore the power of AI in quiz creation, the importance of personalizing AI-generated content, and how quizzes can optimize your marketing funnel.
This conversation will inspire you to think about quizzes to go beyond building your list and segmenting your audience, but also to guide them through a customer journey tailored to their needs.
Jackie shares practical strategies, addresses common challenges, and identifies the key metrics to focus on for improving quiz performance. Using my quiz, build on the Interact platform, Jackie walked me through the metrics and identified several simple ways to dramatically improve my results.
🎧 The inside scoop on quizzes for business growth:
03:21 Most popular types of quizzes: personality, scored, trivia.
16:24 Nurturing leads with tailored workflows from quizzes
27:56 Interactive AI + Interact strategy calls eliminate obstacles
30:57 Using quizzes to segment your existing email list.
42:08 Creative ways to build community with quizzes
42:53 A quiz on your website can efficiently guide visitors to relevant content.
How’s this for a “no brainer?” Interact AI can craft a complete quiz for you in about a minute, pulling data from your website and suggesting quiz titles and formats. Talk about a game-changer! ⏱️
Aligning Your Business with Your ADHD: a Client Success Story with Ashley Lloyd
Episode 224
Tuesday, August 20, 2024 • Duration 41:52
My favorite interviews are Client Success Story episodes, because I get to celebrate my clients’ success and also show what’s possible when you partner with a highly experienced coach who really understands the needs of neurodivergent, highly creative solopreneurs.
Today’s guest is Ashley Lloyd, a multi-talented creative, who transitioned from the luxury fashion industry to landscape design, and who shares her journey of discovering the power of right sizing her business to fit her values, financial goals and ADHD brain.
In this episode, Ashley shares how her recent ADHD diagnosis helped her better understand her perfectionism, time blindness, and rejection sensitivity, all while creating systems and workflows for her business as a sole proprietor with my expert guidance and mentorship.
We focus on the importance of setting boundaries, systematizing workflows, and building referral partnerships to prevent burnout and maintain a healthy work-life balance. You won't want to miss this insightful conversation on balancing passion, purpose, and profit!
Here’s a sneak peek of what we covered:
🎨 Harnessing Creative Strengths Ashley shares how she utilizes her artistic skills and creative spark, honed in luxury fashion and fine arts, to create stunning landscape designs.
🧠 Managing Perfectionism and ADHD: We talk candidly about perfectionism, rejection sensitivity, and time blindness the simple, practical strategies that make all the difference.
📈 Referral Partnerships: Ashley’s created a partnership agreement to ensure alignment with her brand and “weed out” (pun intended) clients that aren’t a good fit.
🛡️ Setting Boundaries to Eliminate Over-delivering and Undercharging: Ashley and I discussed how we restructured her service offerings to prevent burn-out while maximizing profit.
🌟 Self-Acceptance and Personal Growth: Building a business that aligns with your personal values and vision sustains your momentum and creative energy.
Playing the Long Game in Business with Sandra Scaiano
Episode 134
Tuesday, November 29, 2022 • Duration 50:33
Sandra Scaiano is a web designer and brand strategist for female entrepreneurs. After a 20-year corporate career, she created a business that brings her joy and allows her to be present for her family and partner with clients who become raving fans and long-time friends. While many business strategists try to sell you on their "proven system", Sandra brings out the brilliance in each of her clients and helps them create and amplify their unique brand voice so they stand out and shine. When it comes to client attraction, it’s not about doing things better, it’s about being the singular choice for your just right clients. To do that, you need to lean into what makes you special, and that’s where Sandra comes in.
Sandra and I connected through an online community of female business owners and I was immediately attracted to her message of playing the long game. The majority of business strategists and coaches are preaching overnight success stories, but don’t reveal that their “proven process” has a 3% success rate. For the other 97% (you and me and everyone else…) the long game is the game. We need to have the patience to try new things, start before we are ready, trust our instincts, and dance with failure. Over time, and through grit, determination, and resilience, we succeed. When you infuse joy into your business and learn to love the process, not just strive for the results, you have a business that is purpose-filled and profitable.
Mic drop moment: "I have a front-row seat to the back end of people's businesses."
Highlights from this exciting interview:
Creativity + strategy allows you to be your most authentic self
Planning & strategy = consistent results
Don't crowdsource your business decisions to FB groups!
Playing the long game is fun when you infuse joy into your business
It's mid-November and the holidays are right around the corner. As a solopreneur, you can go all-in on a Black Friday Sale, take time off or just hunker down and wait out the rest of the year because "nobody buys coaching or consulting services in Q4."
Well, I don't believe that, for the record, and I will still be selling in December, along with enjoying friends and family time. But, there's one more thing I am doing to insure I start 2023 strong, and prepared for growth. In fact, I'm doing it right now, so I decided to record this episode and share it with you.
I am referring to my business audit, or "clean sweep." In episode #131 I talked about the need to manage our boundaries with time, energy, effort, money, and relationships. Here's the handy checklist in case you missed it https://bit.ly/5typeschecklist. The business audit shows you how to free up money, time, and energy in a very practical way that will start to release stress and overwhelm you so you have more energy and enthusiasm for growth in the new year.
There are 3 phases of the audit:
List: identify where you are spending money and time
Leverage: assess the ROI and ROE (energy)
Let Go: cancel, delete, put on hold to create space
You may feel some emotions as you go through this process, I did, but once they had passed I felt lighter and more optimistic about the future and I believe you will too if you try this strategy. If you think this is going to challenge you, do the 3 steps on different days and do it with a biz bestie for accountability. If you complete this process, I'd love to hear from you. Let me know how much money & time you saved yourself each month by DM'ing me @coachdiannwingert on IG or Linked In.
Spending time and money on things that are not serving you and your business is one of the most common ways female solopreneurs slow their growth, but there are several behaviors that also hold us back. I created a quiz with 6 different behaviors I often see in female solopreneurs that slow their success. Here’s your invitation to take the quiz, and get specific feedback, guidance, and practical advice about your particular challenge and more importantly, steps you can take to fix it.
Why Women Think They Suck at Making Money with Tara Newman
Episode 132
Tuesday, November 15, 2022 • Duration 58:14
Tara Newman is an organizational psychologist, certified Profit First consultant, host of the Bold Money Revolution Podcast, and leader of The Bold Profit Academy. Tara is exactly the kind of woman I want in my inner circle because she knows firsthand that being an expert, serving with purpose, and working your ass off doesn’t add up to a profitable business for most women and she’s on a bold mission to change that.
Here are a few facts that Tara shared with me during our conversation that should help you recognize this episode is not only potentially a game changer for you and your business, but it is also one to share with another female business owner.
According to a recent UBS Survey:
51% of women default to their male partner when making financial decisions but 100% of women feel comfortable making decisions about charitable giving on their own
88% of female business owners make less than $100k in revenue
We also chat about what Tara calls an Owners Statement and how she differentiates between personal values and business values.
This was an eye-opener: Most women want a fully remote business but that does not mean they want an online business.
Make sure you listen for Tara’s Zombie Apocalypse analogy - which type of walking dead character are you?
The topic of boundaries has never been more important than it is now because entrepreneurs are burning out, and far too businesses aren't profitable. This straight-shooting solo episode will walk you through each of the five areas where you probably need to beef up your boundaries, how to know if you should, and the first step to take to find out. If you're thinking this is one more time-wasting task on your neverending To-Do list, think twice. These strategies are guaranteed to burnout-proof your business while boosting your bottom line.
Host Notes
One of the areas of business strategy I find most of my clients need help with is business boundaries, and often times they don't even realize it. Boundary problems may be the root cause when you find yourself working too much, making too little, and dealing with needy, demanding, or never-satisfied clients. Boundary problems are often to blame for working really hard but not moving forward, investing a ton in learning for your business but never having enough time to implement what you have learned. If any of this sounds familiar, this episode is for you.
When we struggle with boundaries, we tend to feel resentful, frustrated and overwhelmed. We may think it's a time management issue or that we simply have too much to do and not enough support from others. The tendency to blame, whether ourselves or others is very tempting (I do it too, from time to time...) but nothing moves the needle like self-awareness and personal responsibility. This is truly empowering because when we recognize that we are part of the problem, we can then get busy creating a solution. And, in this episode, I am going to show you exactly how to get started.
The 5 types of boundaries you need in your business are time, energy, money, people & effort. The place to start with each of them is to uncover where you are investing, spending, and wasting each of these resources. Behavior change is hard, and this episode is a big-picture overview. Pick one area and take the first step. Once you've made some progress, take another step or take the first step in another category.
Every action we take that reduces our risk of burnout and increases our profit ratio improves the sustainability of our business and gives us more confidence in our entrepreneurial journey. Rather than buying yet another course or enrolling in yet another quick-fix program, take a look at where you can bolster your boundaries for free with these simple steps. Listening to this episode will give you the big-picture perspective on why you need better business boundaries, but to move the needle, you need to take action and for that, you need a roadmap.
The No-BS Business Coach with Neena Perez
Episode 130
Tuesday, November 1, 2022 • Duration 45:37
Women who have the audacity to speak their truth without guilt or apology are absolutely some of my favorite people and today’s guest, Neena Perez and I became instant friends. As soon as I saw the name of her podcast, “Straight Talk, No Sugar Added”, and the title of her book, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot, How I Overcame a Hard Hitting Life”, I knew I was going to connect with business and performance coach, author, podcaster, and total baddie, Neena Perez. Neena is also a chef and director of culinary operations, so believe me when I say this woman is a powerhouse and I am excited to introduce you to her.
Instead of giving into the mindset and way of life she saw growing up, Neena was determined to not only survive but to succeed. She knew that the key to overcoming her challenges was by changing her thinking, doing the work, and finding people to surround herself with who did not accept limits. Neena and I had such a great convo because she is just as direct and straightforward as I am. She is also wise, generous, kind, and funny. If you love this episode, you definitely want to check out our conversation on Straight Talk, No Sugar Added. Her coaching framework is called Master Your Game (Goals, Accountability, Mind-flow, Energy)
Neena’s straight talk for solopreneurs:
Know your why & go 7 levels deep
Reject the victim mindset
Don’t expect handouts or ease
Boundaries are your friend
Focus on your goals, not what others are doing
Face your fears
Mic Drop Moments:
“If you have to bend down to get into the room, you are in the wrong room.”
“Worrying about the opinions of others keeps you unsuccessful.”
Of all the things we need to learn how to master as a coach or consultant is expectation management. It is more important than your niche, your offers, your marketing, price point, packaging our expertise or what social media platforms to spend our time on. You can’t fully rely on your potential client to know what they expect from hiring you, either. You have to get ahead of the conversation by asking questions that reveal their unconscious beliefs and desires because those are the ones they will judge you by.
Something I have come to understand is how often clients are looking for a Magic Pill and have zero self awareness that this is even the case. A Magic Pill is the belief that there will be a perfect solution to whatever we are struggling with, and they just keep trying different things until they find it. Sometimes we unwittingly participate in this search for a Magic Pill by the way we market our services and sell our programs by over stating the benefits.
Change is hard and requires that we change our beliefs and our identity, not just our behavior. We all want solutions that are easy, fast and effortless, but meaningful and lasting change almost never is. In this no-BS solo episode, we are going to dismantle the myth of the Magic Pill, so we can offer our potential clients genuine value, and no-BS offers, not hype.
Highlights of this episode:
What is a Magic Pill and why are so many of us looking for one?
How coaches and consultants are selling Magic Pills without realizing it
What we can learn from the weight loss industry about human nature
Alternatives to Magic Pill thinking
Being in the right room & leaving when it’s time to move on
Watching for opportunities to be an early adopter
Being willing to experiment and fail
Being willing to tolerate discomfort
Recognize what people really want: guidance, support & accountability
Even if you aren’t desperately seeking magic pills, you may have habits in your business that cost you income, profit, and success. I created a quiz with 6 different behaviors I often see in female solopreneurs that hold them back. Here’s your invitation to take the quiz, and get specific feedback, guidance, and practical advice about your particular challenge and more importantly, steps you can take to fix it.
Writing Emails They'll Want to Open with Meera Kothand
Episode 128
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 • Duration 49:39
One of the complaints I hear most often from other female solopreneurs is that they find it close to impossible to write high-quality emails to their list, but not everyone is in a position to hire a copywriter to take that task off their hands.
There are so many different kinds of emails that a business owner may need to send at different times from onboarding sequences to nurturing sequences, sales emails, and even invitations to unsubscribe when people have not been opening them for a while, that even those who are pretty confident about their writing skills, like me, can get pretty lost in the weeds.
Today’s guest, Meera Kothand began her online business journey as a blogger and began writing books for other bloggers, several of which became Amazon best sellers. She now focuses on helping digital marketers write emails that convert subscribers to customers in a way that is both strategic and sustainable by making them more simple and fun, which was music to my ears.
Even though I have purchased several of her books over the past few years, there were a couple of moments during this interview where some really critical strategies finally made complete sense to me.
It was a really good reminder to be compassionate with myself about how long it really takes to learn to be successful as a solopreneur because of all the different skills we juggle on a daily basis with or without a team. I am making some changes in my emails as a result of this convo and you might find yourself motivated enough to get back on track with your email marketing too.
Learn more about Meera:
Her website, consistently named on the Top 100 sites for solopreneurs: www.meerakothand.com
"I created a flowchart with you of my process. And knowing what the flowchart looks like, the client intake, all the way through to the end, I'm able to better position myself to not get taken advantage of." Ashley Lloyd
Have you been forgetting to book a consultation for one of my summer offers? There’s just ONE WEEK LEFT to grab one of my Summer Strategy Sessions. These fast and focused engagements are designed for maximum impact in minimum time. Click on the hyperlink to schedule your no obligation consultation NOW!
Sandra and I both work with female solopreneurs who have an online presence. One of the things our clients have in common is that in spite of our effort, there is often a gap between where they are and where they want to be in their business. Does this apply to you and do you know the cause? Take this quiz and get your personalized result, and what to do about it!
It’s 4th Quarter, ladies. Do you know where your business is going to end up for the year?
For many solopreneurs, the last quarter of the year can feel like a scramble…throw together a Black Friday special, discount your fees because potential clients are thinking about their holiday budget, or just hunker down, serve your existing clients and try to reduce costs for the rest of the year? There is nothing wrong with doing any of these things, but they are tactics, not a strategy, and tactics might produce results, but it’s a crap shoot.
I am taking a one-week break during the month of December to spend with my adult children, but I am taking on a limited number of 1:1 clients in Q4, combining business strategy and mindset coaching. If you want to figure out what’s working and what isn’t before another year is over, here is the link to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation: https://bit.ly/3qrJ9YQ
If you love and look forward to each episode of The Driven Woman Podcast, let me know by leaving a review! I’m not a mind reader and podcast reviews really do motivate me to keep creating this show & bringing you awesome guests and no-BS solo episodes.
Don’t forget to join us next week for Episode # 135 when I return with another straight-shooting solo show. If you haven’t already, please follow/subscribe to The Driven Woman Entrepreneur Podcast so you won’t miss a single thing!
Click on this link to take the quiz: What’s Holding You Back? https://bit.ly/obstaclesquiz
Hate quizzes? No problem! Let’s connect on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/coachdiannwingert/ or
That’s all for now, Driven Woman! Please join us next week for another amazing guest interview!
Until then, stay driven!
Tara Newman and I both work with high-achieving women and one of the common themes is that in spite of our effort, there is often a gap between where we are and where we want to be. Does this apply to you and do you know the cause? Take this quiz and get your personalized result, and what to do about it!
It’s 4th Quarter, ladies. Do you know where your business is going to end up for the year?
For many solopreneurs, the last quarter of the year can feel like a scramble…throw together a Black Friday special, discount your fees because potential clients are thinking about their holiday budget, or just hunker down, serve your existing clients and try to reduce costs for the rest of the year? There is nothing wrong with doing any of these things, but they are tactics, not a strategy, and tactics might produce results, but it’s a crap shoot.
I am taking on a limited number of 1:1 clients in Q4, combining strategy and mindset coaching so you have a plan AND can get past your procrastination and perfectionism to implement it. If you want to figure out what’s working and what isn’t before another year is over, here is the link to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation: https://bit.ly/3qrJ9YQ
If you love and look forward to each episode of The Driven Woman Podcast, let me know by leaving a review! I’m not a mind reader and podcast reviews really do motivate me to keep creating this show & bringing you awesome guests and no-BS solo episodes.
Don’t forget to join us next week for Episode # 133 when I return with another straight-shooting solo show. If you haven’t already, please follow/subscribe to The Driven Woman Entrepreneur Podcast so you won’t miss a single thing.
Click this link to get my PDF checklist “5 Types of Boundaries You Need in Your Business” with action steps for each area and links to free resources that will help you get started: https://bit.ly/5typeschecklist
I am working on an audio course on the topic of boundaries for female solopreneurs, so stay tuned to be one of the first to hear about it when it’s released.
So, that’s all for now, Driven Woman! Please join us next week for another amazing guest interview with Tara Newman, who is going to straighten out our money madness and steer us toward greater profit potential in our business.
Neena Perez and I both work with high-achieving women and one of the common themes is that in spite of our effort, there is often a gap between where we are and where we want to be. Does this apply to you and do you know the cause? Take this quiz and get your personalized result, and what to do about it!
Don’t forget to join us next week for Episode #133 when I return with another juicy solo episode. If you haven’t already, please follow/subscribe to The Driven Woman Entrepreneur Podcast so you won’t miss a single thing!
So, that’s all for now, Driven Woman! Please join us next week for another amazing guest interview with Neena Perez. We talk about what we both learned from a challenging childhood that has made us who we are, two No-BS business coaches. I hope you’ll join us for a very fun and inspiring conversation.
In the meantime, stay driven!
Maybe the only thing holding you back is that you’re not writing emails that convert. If that’s the case, Meera has your back. But, what if you don’t know why you are working so hard to get ahead in your business and just can’t seem to reach those higher-level goals? Take my quiz and find out!
It’s 4th Quarter, ladies. Do you know where your business is going to end up for the year?
For many solopreneurs, the last quarter of the year can feel like a scramble…throw together a Black Friday special, discount your fees because potential clients are thinking about their holiday budget, or just hunker down, serve your existing clients and try to reduce costs for the rest of the year? There is nothing wrong with doing any of these things, but they are tactics, not a strategy, and tactics might produce results, but it’s a crap shoot.
I am taking on a limited number of 1:1 clients in Q4, combining strategy and mindset coaching so you have a plan AND can get past your procrastination and perfectionism to implement it. If you want to figure out what’s working and what isn’t before another year is over, here is the link to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation: https://bit.ly/3qrJ9YQ
Not quite ready to commit? I got you. Join The Driven Woman Entrepreneur Facebook Group by clicking the link right here:
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