ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

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 ...

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 f...

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 En...

Need help actually getting started? Join the A-OK Hive and get things done alongside other ADHD women: https://tracyotsuka.com/hive ____ I’ve been doing this since college, and until I was diagnosed with ADHD, I just thought I was a little odd. I work better when other people are around. Not helping me, not talking to me, and definitely not asking me how it’s going. I just need them there, doing their own thing. In college, I couldn’t study in my quiet apartment, so I’d pack up my books and...

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 founde...

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 _____ Dr. Ann Bennett has spent more than 20 years studying what helps people learn, adapt, and thrive. So when she decided to look at what ADHD podcasts were actually doing for women, she was not expecting the results to be THIS strong. Dr. Bennett leads Applied Research & Evaluation at Understood.org and identifies as disabl...

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 pe...

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...

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 _____ Have you ever tried to fix your spouse? Push a little harder, remind a little more, explain it one more time, and eventually they will just get it? Jackie Kelley did that for years. Then she realized the thing she kept trying to change was often just a brain that worked differently from hers. Jackie is a neurodivergent con...

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 _____ “Why can’t I just?” was the question Clare Edwin kept coming back to. Why can’t I just answer that email? Why can’t I just leave the house on time? Why can’t I just do the ordinary things everyone else seems to manage? Clare grew up in Nigeria, studied aeronautical engineering, earned a master’s in mathematical modelling, ...

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 _____ About one in nine adults is on a GLP-1 right now. And women with ADHD kept telling me the exact same thing after starting GLP-1 medications: they expected to lose weight, but they did not expect their brains to feel different. The brain fog lifted. The food noise got quieter. Energy felt steadier. Emotional reactions became eas...

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 _____ Faye Lawrence got blackout drunk at 13. What she remembers is not the drinking. It is the relief. She started drinking heavily as a teenager and kept going for decades. From the outside she looked successful and high functioning, right up until late 2017, when the wheels came off the cart and she found herself in inpatient detox. She got so...

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 _____ Some brains cannot sit still long enough to be careful. Ella Fielding found a machine that runs on exactly that. Ella has a BA in Fine Art Sculpture, a Masters in Fine Art, and a chainsaw operator's license, and she uses all three to turn whole trees into monumental sculpture. But she left school at 14 because it was too traumatic to stay. S...

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 _____ She was good at the job. She just kept bombing the people. Dr. Shannan Palma has a PhD from Emory, founded a master's program, and taught as a college professor. Then, in midlife, she found out she was autistic. ADHD turned up right behind it. For decades she had followed the rules exactly as they were written and could not work out why tha...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up _____ Laura Pasley is a child and youth worker in Ontario, Canada, who has spent more than a decade in intensive mental health and dual-diagnosis treatment programs for children and adolescents. She is the person who runs toward the crisis when everyone else is running away from it. After postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, complex trauma, and her sixth concu...

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 _ How many times have you told yourself, “I’ll do it when I feel more confident”? When I feel ready, I’ll apply for that job. When I feel more confident, I’ll start the business. When I believe in myself more, I’ll have that hard conversation. We spend so much of our lives wa...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up _____ Your kid got labeled the “problem.” The defiant one, the behavior kid, the one who couldn't sit still or keep up. What if the room was the thing that didn't fit? Beven Byrnes is a neurodivergent educator, nonprofit leader, and a mom of four. She's the Executive Director of Bridges Middle School in Portland, the only middle school in Oregon built specif...

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 ...

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 have heard of art therapy and talk therapy. Charlotte Hastings does therapy in the kitchen, and it opens people up in a way the usual chair never quite does. Charlotte Hastings is a psychodynamic therapist, founder of Kitchen Therapy, and author of Kitchen Therapy: How to Become a Conscious Cook. Trained first as an anthropologist, she taught drama...

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...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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 Angel...

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”...

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, sh...

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 gr...

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 movement...

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. That matters because ADHD creates what she calls the p...

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? Dr. Shawn Horn is a licensed clinical psychologist and the author of Thrive Socially with Adult ADHD. Known as The Shame-Busting Psychologist, she helps adults understand the painful stories they have carried about being “too much,” “not enough,” or “bad at relatio...

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 yo...

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 fi...

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? Dr. Nodira Khoussainova is the CEO and co-founder of Focused Space, a body doubling platform for creatives, business owners, artists, and freelancers, many of whom are neurodivergent. Before Focused Space, she was an early co-founder at Streamlit a...

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 leav...

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...

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. Procrastination liv...

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 bein...

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:...

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 attendi...

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 o...

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 stud...

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...

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, ...

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 ove...

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 stuc...

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 wo...

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, al...

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,...

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...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Gratitude is talked about a lot, but for us with ADHD brains it isn’t just a feel-good idea. It is a physiological strategy that changes how the brain functions. In this episode, Tracy breaks down why gratitude is not optional for ADHD. It starts with dopamine. ADHD brains rely on positive emotion to initiate action, sustain focus, and regulate emotion. Gratit...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Dr. Gilly Kahn spent years studying psychology before realizing how much of her own emotional world had been shaped by ADHD. Dr. Gilly earned a Master’s in Experimental Psychology, a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and built a full clinical practice before receiving her ADHD diagnosis in her early thirties. Looking back, the signs had been there all along: migra...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ When Susanne Schotanus was fifteen, she spent two years in weekly psychiatric appointments before someone finally said she had ADHD. No one explained what it meant or how to work with it. She simply left with a label that didn’t change much of anything. Years later, as a university student struggling to finish assignments she deeply loved, she realized she was...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ When Devene Godau adopted a retired racing greyhound, she thought she was just rescuing a dog. Instead, she found her purpose. What started as an effort to help an anxious greyhound with separation anxiety became a lesson in communication, connection, and compassion. Those lessons didn’t just transform her career; they changed how she saw herself. A certified ...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ A 10-year-old boy sat across from Dr. Kalaki Clarke, MD during her psychiatry rotation, and she saw herself. Smart, charming, good grades but couldn't get it together. That's when she knew she had ADHD too. Dr. Clarke was in her first year of residency at UC Irvine, working 80-hour weeks in a system designed to test you constantly. She'd been the good kid, the...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ You walk into a room and forget why you're there. You miss deadlines even though you care deeply about the work. You can remember a random conversation from 15 years ago but not what someone just told you five minutes ago. Welcome to life with an ADHD brain and a memory system that works differently. Dr. Daniella Karidi knows this firsthand. Diagnosed with ADH...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Kiersten Lyons spent most of her life being told she was too much. Too loud, too dramatic, too many feelings all at once. She was also told she wasn't enough. Not pretty enough, not the right fit, not what Hollywood was looking for. The dichotomy nearly broke her. But it also became the foundation of her story. As a working actress in LA for over a decade, wit...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Nicole Bela was brilliant at her job. She could read a room in seconds, remember every donor’s story, and raise millions for causes she believed in. But behind the polished professionalism, she was quietly unraveling. The same systems designed to do good were slowly breaking her down, and she couldn’t understand why. After being diagnosed with ADHD at 37, just...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ What happens when doing everything "right" still leaves you miserable? You start asking better questions. Shell Mendelson was a successful CEO of KidzArt, an international children's art franchise she founded, when everything fell apart. Despite looking accomplished on paper, she was disconnected, dysregulated, and drowning in work that no longer fit. At her l...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Burnout was Skye Waterson's PhD companion. She'd switch majors—psychology to law to sociology—convinced each time that she just hadn't found her passion yet. The truth was simpler and more complex: she was trying to outwork her undiagnosed ADHD, and no amount of grinding harder was going to fix a brain that needed different systems entirely. By the time she fi...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Sometimes the thing that saves you is also the thing that masks your greatest struggle. Swimming was Meg Hennessey Schofield's lifeline through college—three to four miles a day that kept her ADHD brain calm and focused. When she quit her senior year to focus on teaching, everything fell apart. The anxiety and depression that led to her diagnosis at 21 made ...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ Sometimes, the most humbling moments teach us the most about ourselves. Tracy recently found herself in Santa Barbara, recording courses for major companies like LinkedIn Learning and Google. After three flawless, scripted trainings, she was asked to do an impromptu training on ten ADHD tips. Despite having written a book and recorded 350 podcast episodes, Tra...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _____ From the outside, you look like you've got it all together. But inside? You're drowning in the endless mental load, feeling guilty because you need breaks from your kids, and wondering why other moms seem to breeze through daily routines that leave you completely drained. Amy Marie Hann was diagnosed with ADHD at just five years old in the mid-1980s—making her...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup Natasha M. Nurse lived 37 years not knowing she was neurodivergent. Then motherhood changed everything. The crying, the overwhelm, the dark thoughts that felt like more than typical new parent struggles—all of it led to a discovery that would reshape her understanding of herself completely. Diagnosed with autism and ADHD at 37, Natasha finally had answers for a life...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _ Barbara Baskin spent 30 years convinced she wasn't very smart. School was academic probation and "needs to try harder" report cards. Then came an ADHD diagnosis at 30, followed by three decades of raising four kids (including triplets), caring for her mother with dementia, and running a business while being everyone's executive function. At 60, Barbara made a deci...

*This episode has been updated* Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _ What would it be like if you could see music as colors dancing in front of your eyes? For Justine Glaser, that's just a normal Tuesday. Justine is a creative force who doesn't just hear music, she sees it. Diagnosed with ADHD at age 3 and born with synesthesia, a rare neurological trait where sound shows up as color, Justine has a...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _ You know that feeling when someone tells you you're "too intense" or "ask too many questions"? Lucia Kanter St. Amour has built an entire career on exactly those traits. Lucia is a negotiation expert, law professor, and the kind of ADHD woman who writes Amazon reviews so detailed she got invited to their exclusive Vine program. She's the author of For the Forces o...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup _ You want to make changes, but can't seem to start. Or maybe you're doing the work, but it's not working fast enough. This solo episode tackles the number one thing that keeps ADHD women stuck, and it's not what you think. Tracy Otsuka breaks down why change feels so hard even when you really want it, and why having access to all the tools in the world won't help...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup __ Sometimes the biggest breakthrough comes from dropping the mask and reclaiming your story after decades of living someone else's version of your life. Dr. Shafer Stedron knows this journey intimately. Dr. Shafer is a neurologist, life coach, author, and host of Talks with Dr. Shafer. Drawing from both clinical expertise and lived experience, she helps others refr...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Aging with ADHD isn't about decline—it's about finally coming into your own. Sandy Reynolds is challenging everything we've been told about getting older, especially as neurodivergent women. Sandy is a coach, facilitator, and fierce advocate for women navigating their third act. With more than 25 years of leadership and adult education experience, she helps wome...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ When you're the eldest daughter of immigrants with ADHD and autism, you learn to mask early and master systems—but at what cost? Meral Alizada knows this story intimately, and she's using it to transform how companies think about neurodivergent talent. Meral is the founder of Results of Kindness (ROK), where she helps organizations build workplaces where neurodi...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ People with ADHD are built for the future of work. While everyone else worries about AI taking over jobs, we're the ones who'll figure out what to do with it next. Muxin Li studied at UVA and Rice, but her real education came from following a winding path through anthropology, teaching, journalism, and now AI. Today, she's building tools designed to reduce cogni...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ What if your doctor could prescribe a fishing group instead of another medication? A birdwatching club for your anxiety. An art class for your depression. Welcome to social prescribing—a healthcare movement that's changing how we think about healing by focusing on connection, not just pills. Julia Hotz is a journalist and author of The Connection Cure, the first...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Nobody prepares you for ADHD pregnancy brain. Decisions become impossible when choosing between 200 strollers for a baby you've never met, how appointments can completely derail your routine, and focus. The brain fog that hits like a wall, or the surprising clarity that some women experience when hormones align just right with their neurodivergent wiring. Dr. Ka...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ When you live with ADHD, it’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of overwhelm, shutdown, and shame. But what if there’s a way to interrupt that pattern without judgment, without spiraling, and without trying to “fix” yourself? Vanessa Gorelkin is a licensed therapist, executive coach, and returning favorite on the podcast. With 30 years of experience across clinical c...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ How do you thrive in one of the most demanding industries in the world, while quietly navigating ADHD the whole time? Nancy Shapiro spent 33 years as a senior executive at the Recording Academy, home of the GRAMMYs, where she led all twelve regional chapters and built groundbreaking programs that changed the face of music education and artist development. But be...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ You can’t out-organize trauma. You can’t schedule your way out of burnout. But you can begin to heal, and in doing so, everything else starts to shift. Dr. Lorre Laws has spent over three decades helping people do just that. Known affectionately as “Dr. Lorre,” she’s a bestselling author, integrative nursing professor, and founder of The Haelan Academy, a nonpro...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Vickie Howell discovered something most people never do: the exact moment her brain went quiet. It happened when her hands were busy with yarn and needles, long before she had words for ADHD or understood why making things felt like medicine. Vickie has spent over two decades at the forefront of the modern craft movement. She’s best known as the host of Knitty G...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ What happens when your brain is loud, your schedule is chaotic, and your best coping skill is making people laugh? Jessica Michelle Singleton is a no-filter comedian, podcast host, and the kind of ADHD woman who can command a stage, lose her keys, and write a killer joke—all before lunch. She’s dropped two #1 comedy albums, racked up millions of views with her s...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ What happens when the thing you thought wasn’t for you, like meditation, turns out to be exactly what your brain needed? Kelly Smith is a meditation teacher, yoga instructor, podcast host, and the creator of Mindful in Minutes, which has guided over 23 million meditations to date. Diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, Kelly grew up feeling like she didn’t quite fit...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ What if the systems you were told to follow just… never worked for you? Latrice Prater spent years trying to fit into traditional jobs and structures, feeling like she was always falling short, until her ADHD diagnosis in her 30s made everything click. A Navy veteran, certified Director of Operations, and now founder of The Digital Solutions Team, Latrice has si...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ What happens when you stop trying to prove your worth and start building what only you can see? Elizabeth Elfenbein is a creative powerhouse, a purpose-driven leader, and a visionary storyteller who’s redefining women’s health, equity, and representation on a global scale. But like so many ADHD women, that journey started with feeling like she didn’t quite...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ How do you build a writing life when your brain refuses to follow rules? For Paulette Perhach, the answer has always been a mix of creativity, structure, and compassion. Paulette is an award-winning author, writing coach, and creator of the Writer’s Mission Control Center and Finishing School for Writers. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vox, Glamour...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ If you’ve ever been told you’re “too sensitive,” “too emotional,” or just “too much,” this episode is here to tell you: you’re not. You’re intuitive, and that might just be your ADHD superpower. Julie Jancius, known as The Angel Medium, is a spiritual teacher, podcast host, and bestselling author who helps people reconnect with their intuition, their energy, and...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Money advice rarely works for the ADHD brain. We’re told to budget, track every dollar, and rely on willpower—but what if the real answer is to make it easier, not harder? Nicole Stanley gets it. A financial coach, Latina entrepreneur, and founder of Arise Financial Coaching, Nicole helps women ditch the shame, confusion, and overwhelm around money. But before s...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___________ What happens when a self-taught, multi-passionate entrepreneur builds a six-figure Etsy business from scratch—while homeschooling on a farm and running multiple income streams? You get Lizzie Smiley. Known for her hot-mess mom humor and contagious high energy, Lizzie is the host of How to Sell Your Stuff on Etsy, where she helps creative entreprene...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___________ For many ADHD women, relationships can be complicated—especially when navigating emotional intensity, executive dysfunction, and the feeling that something just isn’t right. Kate Anthony, host of the Divorce Survival Guide Podcast and author of The D Word, joins Tracy to talk about what it means to reclaim your agency, especially when you’ve spent years ...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___________ Rejection stings, but what if you could flip it into your greatest advantage? Alice Draper, founder of Hustling Writers and host of My Rejection Story, knows that rejection isn’t just part of the game—it is the game. Diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, Alice struggled for years with imposter syndrome, social rejection, and the fear of putting herself...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup __ Some people are naturally organized. Cassandra Aarssen is not one of them. A self-proclaimed “super slob” turned organizing expert, Cas spent years struggling with clutter before realizing that traditional organizing methods simply didn’t work for her ADHD brain. That revelation led her to develop the Clutterbug® Organizing Philosophy, identifying four unique org...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup __ Growing up as the youngest of ten kids, Chelsea Kunz learned early how to be loud, funny, and grab attention—which, as it turns out, is pretty on-brand for an ADHD brain. Now an actor, creator, and self-described hot mess mom, Chelsea built an online following as Karen Disapproves, blending comedy and chaos into relatable parenting content. But behind the laughs,...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup __ Procrastination, clutter, perfectionism—these aren’t just bad habits. For many ADHD women, they’re constant battles that drain energy and create overwhelm. Dr. Christine Li, a clinical psychologist and The Procrastination Coach, has spent over 25 years helping people break free from these struggles. A Princeton and Columbia graduate, she has worked extensively ...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup __ Some people see retirement as slowing down—Emily Ransdell saw it as a chance to finally do what she was meant to do. After a career in tech marketing, she walked away at 59 and went all in on her lifelong love of writing. At 60, she enrolled in a Master’s in Creative Writing, and by 67, she had published her first poetry collection, which won the Lewis Award from...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup __ Most people don’t think of ADHD and aging in the same sentence, but what happens when someone reaches their 60s, 70s, or beyond—never knowing they had ADHD in the first place? Jami Shapiro is tackling that question head-on. As the founder of Silver Linings, she helps seniors navigate major life changes like downsizing and moving. But her journey into ADHD a...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Some people spend years trying to figure out what they want to do. Brit Madrid Mogensen does it all. From sports reporting and acting to hosting her own TV show, Brit built a career that thrives on curiosity, creativity, and adaptability—hallmarks of the ADHD brain. But before she found her rhythm in the fast-paced world of media, she struggled in school, ...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ How do generational trauma, ADHD, and addiction intertwine—and how can understanding them save lives? In this deeply personal episode of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy Otsuka speaks with Jennifer Nicole Schmitz, whose journey is one of survival, resilience, and purpose. Jennifer candidly shares her experiences growing up in a home marked by trauma, her mother’s...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Dr. Kathy Zhang has spent her career on the frontlines of life and death, supporting patients in their most vulnerable moments. A hospice and palliative care physician, TEDx speaker, and certified coach, Kathy transforms the wisdom of those nearing the end of life into lessons that inspire the living. Diagnosed with ADHD in her mid-30s, Kathy has used her neurod...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Some kids can’t sit still in class. Others stare out the window, lost in their thoughts. Then there are kids like Rebecca Barrera, who ask a million questions, try their hardest, and still get told they’re not learning fast enough. When Rebecca was five, a teacher dismissed her as an academic lost cause—her mother refused to accept that. Rebecca was diagnosed wi...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Set Intentions, Not Resolutions and Making 2025 Your Best Year Yet January feels like a fresh start, but for many ADHD brains, resolutions quickly lose their spark. In this solo episode, Tracy Otsuka takes a deep dive into why the beginning of the year feels so energizing and how to harness that momentum all year long. She introduces the concept of temporal land...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ Your voice is more than what you say—it’s who you are. Dana Lewis, a communication and vocal coach, is on a mission to amplify the voices of neurodivergent women. As the founder of Undeniable Voice, she brings two decades of expertise in vocal pedagogy, nervous system awareness, and trauma-informed coaching to help ADHD women reconnect with their authentic voice...

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup ___ ADHD brains and money: What if your challenges could become your greatest strength? In this episode of ADHD with Smart Ass Women, Tracy is joined by Catherine Morgan, a Certified Financial Coach and Trauma of Money Expert, about the emotional side of money and how ADHD shapes financial habits. Catherine, the founder of The Money Panel® and author of the be...