PODCAST. Education, Coaching, and Running a Business with ADHD with Brooke Schnittman.

Sep 11

Written By Dave

Brooke Schnittman, MA, PCC, BCC, is a best-selling author, speaker, and founder of Coaching With Brooke, offering 20 years of expertise in ADHD and executive function coaching and transforming chaos & frustration into focused success.

Brooke shares her fascinating journey of self-discovery, the challenges of managing ADHD while helping others, and how she built a successful ADHD coaching business.

Episode Highlights:

Brooke’s Late ADHD Diagnosis: Brooke, like Dave, was diagnosed later in life. She reflects on her journey from working with students with disabilities to launching her ADHD coaching business. Surprisingly, it wasn't until she was well into her coaching career that she realized she had ADHD herself, which helped her understand her clients on a deeper level.
From Educator to ADHD Coach: With a background in special education, Brooke spent years working with ADHD students, unaware she shared many of their struggles. Her deep connection to the students who needed more time and systems to succeed came full circle when she received her ADHD diagnosis.
ADHD in Family Life: Brooke shares the dynamics of living in an ADHD family. Not only does she have ADHD, but her husband and two stepsons also exhibit ADHD traits, which adds complexity (and humor) to their family interactions.
Challenges of Executive Functioning: Brooke discusses how ADHD impacts executive functioning and how it’s critical to understand these skills to manage ADHD effectively. Whether dealing with working memory, planning, or emotional regulation, she offers insights into building better systems for success.
Building a Coaching Business: Launching Coaching with Brooke in 2018, Brooke grew her business from one-on-one coaching to leading a team of eight coaches and serving clients across 30 countries. She provides invaluable advice for aspiring coaches, such as the importance of staying patient, exploring your niche, and avoiding burnout.
Advice for Entrepreneurs: Brooke shares her journey of entrepreneurship, including the tools and strategies that helped her scale her coaching business. Her top tips? Use tools like Asana for organization, stay true to your passion, and don’t rush to niche down until you’ve worked with a variety of clients.
Managing ADHD in Business: She explains the importance of not only being a great coach but also learning how to run a business effectively. From hiring the right people to managing your finances, Brooke breaks down the key steps in building a successful, ADHD-friendly business.

Key Takeaways:

ADHD is a lifelong journey that can manifest in different ways over time.
Understanding and managing executive functions is crucial for ADHD success.
Building a coaching business requires patience, experimentation, and a focus on relationships over profit.
Software tools like Asana can help streamline ADHD chaos into clarity.

Follow Brooke Schnittman:

Website: CoachingWithBrooke.com
Instagram: @CoachingWithBrooke

Resources Mentioned:

Brooke’s Podcast: ADHD Power Tools (available on YouTube)
Pick up a copy of Activate Your ADHD Potential: A 12-Step Journey from Chaos to Confidence for Adults With ADHD.

Join us next time as we continue to explore life with ADHD and hear from more inspiring voices like Brooke’s!

0:00
Dave, thanks for having me. I'm also a late diagnosed ADHD like you. Believe it or not, I have been working with people in the ADHD field for 20 years, and I, myself, didn't know I had ADHD until five years ago. So fascinating, right? Graduated from my master's in students with disabilities, from NYU with a special education teacher working with ADHD ers in the classroom, was an assistant director of special education, working with parents, families and kids. Started my business coaching with Brooke in 2018 ADHD coaching business still didn't know I had ADHD and six months into it, I then realized very quickly that I was like my clients. When I was working with them online, I started noticing that I was having a hard time going from the session, which I loved, to doing my notes and then coming back and shifting my attention back to the session and then going back to my notes like that, just that system wasn't working for me, and then it started clicking, and I got the diagnosis. And six months after that, I met my non diagnosed ADHD husband at the time and his two non diagnosed ADHD sons, and we are one big ADHD family with a two and a half year old toddler who displays ADHD symptoms as well.
1:24
Wow. That's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah, yeah. So
1:27
I relate very personally and professionally.
1:33
Well, it's interesting too, because, you know, a lot of the and I've got to stop saying the word interesting. Listeners have commented I say it way too much. So now it's going to be like a drinking game every time I say it, even though I'm four years. Four years
1:46
there's this real estate. Oh, congratulations. Real estate person on YouTube that says everything is amazing. So my husband and I make fun of him and yeah, it's the same thing,
2:01
yeah, all of our words, yeah. I'm like, why couldn't I say something like, I don't know something more interesting, like pamplo mousse. Now you're gonna start saying that, yeah, little, little French, little French grapefruits. So, yeah, so and I find it interesting there see, okay, you take a drink. I just did water. Perfect, perfect. Yeah, stay hydrated. So you started in education, and you were working with, you know, students with disabilities. You said,
2:35
Yes, with ADHD, learning disabilities and anxiety
2:41
and yeah, so much of that goes hand in hand, as I as I now know, with students. How old were the students? Like, what age group or grades, or whatever. So
2:51
primarily, I was in sixth grade, and then when I became an administrator, I was working in the middle school, so sixth through eighth and so it's funny, because I always gravitated to the kids who were working really hard, who just it took longer. They needed more systems. And I didn't know why i grad gravitated to them. I just thought that, you know, these were the students that I wanted to work with. And in this special education setting, I was working in a collaborative classroom with a general education teacher. So the students were of average IQ to above average IQ, but they were struggling with ADHD, ASD, anxiety, learning disabilities. And that was my jam. I loved it. I helped them execute increase their executive functions. We had a separate study skills executive function class that we worked on with them, and I loved it. But then once I got into the administration, end of things, as much as I enjoyed administration, I didn't love the paper pushing, and I didn't like the politics and the red tape, and it wasn't using my strengths, which I now know are, you know, working with people and relationships, and I'm a visual and kinesthetic learner. I need to be hands on, right? So the all that paperwork and sitting down at a table and doing IEP meetings was definitely not my strength. What about
4:26
earlier, like, as a kid? Like, how old were you when you were diagnosed?
4:31
It was only, like, five and a half years ago?
4:34
Okay, yeah,
4:35
so I was 35 I just turned 35 and I'm 40, and I'm 40 now. So it was when I was growing up as a kid I was diagnosed with auditory processing disorder, but my mom, who is in education, and my dad, who went to school, right? They were like, Oh, well, she had a lot of ear infections, so it makes. Sense that she has this diagnosis, so I had speech, but the two didn't go together. You know, one thing I wasn't communicating as much when I was a child, but that piece didn't have to do with auditory processing. The auditory processing was doing multiple multiple step directions, right? So now fast forward, it's the chicken or the egg. I have no idea if I have an auditory processing disorder or if it was just hidden ADHD at that time,
5:29
yeah. Because things like, oh, sorry, go ahead. No, no, I was gonna say, like, with anxiety and things like that. Like, I know those are, like, comorbidities caused from the ADHD. So, yeah, yep.
5:40
So I was diagnosed with anxiety, and I was seeing psychologists and psychiatrists on and off my entire life because I was bullied from the age of eight to 35 when I actually received coaching and then started coaching and I didn't understand why, when I was going to the therapist, that I was leaving more anxious. We were talking about my anxiety and about my feelings, but I was anxious going into it, and then I got even more anxious, right? Like I felt like I had I dealt with all of the anxiety where I suppressed it, right? But I wasn't getting the skills and the tools to deal with it. And also, at the time, I didn't realize I had ADHD, so the things that I was doing to try to manage my anxiety, a lot of it was caused by my undiagnosed ADHD,
6:35
yeah, yeah, go figure. And being female doesn't help you in the diagnosis world, especially, you know, traditionally speaking for ADHD being the naughty boy syndrome, right?
6:48
Exactly, exactly, and no, like you, I was always a high achiever. I would always hide behind my work. I would define myself by being a hard worker. In fact, I remember my administrators when I was a teacher would always like, commend me, Wow, she's the hardest worker I see. She's there before the administration. She leaves with the custodians, right? And that's how I define myself. But I didn't have all of those wonderful relationships and everything else that life had to offer. When I was doing all of those things, I was working, it took me two times the amount, sometimes more than that, to get the things done, than than the other teachers. I was spending so much time visioning and creating, you know, but not actually executing. Did
7:42
it help you? Did it help kind of assuming the answer here already. I assume that the answer is yes, but it must have helped you, having two educators as parents too, 100%
7:57
so growing up, my parents are also high achievers. And growing up, my mom would always make sure that she would sit down with me get my homework done. I had tutors if I needed to. They would push me. My mom would push me into accelerated classes. Even though I wasn't accelerated, she would say, Nope, you can do this. But really, like, I didn't know at the time why I couldn't do it. It was because I had a hard time processing the information, so it just took me a longer time to get it. But it doesn't mean that I couldn't do it, but yes, I definitely utilize my parents a lot growing up to the point where I remember, before going to my demo lesson in the number one school districts in the country. I passed my interviews with flying colors, because I had this whole binder of all of these presentations, and it looked beautiful. And I prepped for the interview. I knew what to say. I'm a people person. I can come off really well the first time, right? And I remember my demo lesson. I was freaking out. I was 24 or 25 at the time, I don't remember, and I was in my New York City apartment, and it was the night before my demonstration lesson, and I started bawling because I had to do a lesson on evolution, and I had all these ideas, but I didn't know how to put it together, right? I was too in the visioning of it and not in the execution. I didn't know where to start. I didn't know the next step. I could not put the pieces in priority from beginning to end. So I called my mom. I was hysterical. She called one of her science friends, and he helped me talk through it. And then the next morning, I was supposed to be on time at nine o'clock to this lesson, and I had never dealt with rush hour traffic leaving. Little bit later from Manhattan to get to this demonstration lesson on Long Island, and I was an hour and a half to two hours late, oh, oh, wow, yeah, yeah. And I not only was late, but I forgot I needed markers for my projector, because at that time, we were using projectors like you probably remember growing up Dave, yeah, and like overhead, overhead projector, right? So then I'm driving to Long Island, and I'm like, You know what? I kept calling the principal, and he was like, Okay, no problem. We'll move the whole classroom to the next classroom for your demonstration lesson. So then I stopped at CVS and got crayons to use for my overhead projector. And don't even ask. Don't even ask. That's not gonna work well. That's not gonna work well. But believe it or not, the lesson went surprisingly well, and the assistant principal was in the room, and he was a science teacher in his former life, and he said that was an amazing demonstration lesson, but you did it on genetics, and we were looking more for evolution. Oh,
11:15
oh, whoa,
11:17
whoops. Yeah, yeah. And guess what I got? I got the the job, right? And I definitely, I definitely, performed for the job. But this just goes to show like, when you don't have the help that you need to plan and execute and process information, and you don't know, like, where to start, how to get the steps together, you could be the best visionary in the world, but you need the right support and the tools to get it done. So that was my big aha moment where I was crying to my mom and having her help me pick up the pieces.
11:55
There's a good message there too. I mean, a couple things like, you know, the line is that ADHD is, is like as hereditary as height. And I've, I've had a couple of guests say that, and I've researched it, and it's, it's actually not quite accurate, but it's almost as hereditary as height. I think height is a little more hereditary, but just a pinch. So, you know, it's a good reminder for parents that are listening to be patient with their kids, or the children in their lives, who may or may not be, but you know, perhaps they are, and especially if you the listener, have ADHD. You know, there's a likeliness that one of your children or both or more have ADHD too. So being being patient with kids, I think is such an important message here. I mean, we've been luckily, I married an educator who's neurotypical and is like, just amazing and all the ways, and has been a great mom and I've been a great dad. Our son just took off. Not took off. That sounds terrible. We're great parents, and our son just took off. No, yeah, no, he, no, no, he just went to college. We just moved him into his dorm a week or so ago. And then my daughter's a senior this year and plans to do the same. So I say that, thanks, yeah, yeah. But I say that too, because, you know, I think you mentioned, you might have mentioned that, like, you know, that I, too, was perhaps a high achiever or something, and that is completely inaccurate, because for me, I just had, like, I have a child of the 70s and my kids, my kids, my parents, were completely neglectful and and so for me, I I failed almost every grade, and or I was, I didn't, I wasn't held back, but I pretty much failed every grade, but every teacher graduated me to the next class because they didn't want to have me again, because I was Such a class clown and so disruptive. Oh, wow. And then I had a teacher in seventh grade who finally held me back because he was amazing. And he's like, Yeah, you know, you're not ready for high school, so let's just, let's cool it for a second. And he was really great. But when I did get held back that year, my dad yanked me out of that school and put me into like, a small, independent private school that was in a house, and in that school for eighth and ninth grade, I, I was I, my grades dramatically changed to like A's and B's, from like D's and E's, probably because I was on a first name basis with the teachers. So there was a mutual respect. There was like 10 kids in my classes, so it was impossible to cut class or to screw around much, because, I mean, you're it, you know, it's pretty obvious when you're doing it that way. So I quickly learned, and my grades got very, very good at that school. And of course, once I went to. High School, everything unraveled. And yeah, it took me. Well, yeah, it was not, it's not pretty.
15:07
That just goes to show that the education system is not always set up for ADHD kids, right? So when you're in a big classroom of, let's say 3033 right? And you have ADHD undiagnosed for you, right? What support or differentiation were you getting at that time? Child of the 70s, and then you're in a small class, it's a lot more personalized, lot more differentiated. It's easier to focus in a smaller setting, right? Not to say that that's always the right fit, more restrictive environment for a child, but those ratios, especially, you know, if you're in let's say, now a public school and there is a special education teacher in the classroom, the ratios go down. And if both teachers are working to support all of the kids, then you can get that smaller environments and the differentiation that you're looking for so but I hear you, I mean, it's a lot. It's a lot on parents. It's a lot on the children. It's a lot on the teachers. And I think going back to what you were saying about like, parents being patient, if you have ADHD as a parent and your child has ADHD, now it's a whole other ball game, because you're not only managing your child, you're managing yourself. And if you're not able to manage yourself with your ADHD, then it's a lot harder to manage your child with ADHD, and then for them to follow through. Because if you can't plan the implementation of the calmness and the collaborative problem solving when you're trying to work with your kids, it's hard because, again, we're constantly without help trying to figure out how to manage ourselves.
17:01
Yeah, now makes, makes complete sense. So when did you launch coaching with Brooke? In
17:06
2018 I launched it. So I had, when I came to I used to live in New York, and then I left the public school education, came to Florida, wanted to start my own business in education, to some extent, like some sort of special education. And after dabbling in several things and actually receiving coaching in a group setting, I had stumbled upon another ADHD life coach who was similar background to me from New York, and she said, you would be amazing at this. And I was so motivated to like, move beyond working from for someone and doing the same thing that I used to that. I said, I don't care, just sign me up, right? And she said, Okay, do this, do that. So I got my certifications, I started my business, and then I maxed out on clients, and then I brought on other coaches. And at our peak, we had eight coaches, 15 staff members, and we do one on one in group coaching for adults and for students and parents. And it's been amazing, like there's been a lot of creativity, a lot of transformation in myself, my coaches and my clients that we've worked with 1000s of clients already in 30 countries around the world, and it's been six years already. It's been it's been more that I could ever ask for.
18:31
What was some of the things that you learned in that process? Because, I mean, you know, I know some of the listeners of the podcast and guests, too are other ADHD coaches and or aspiring coaches. Tell me a little bit about the process of going from like so you go out on your own as or with your partner or your business partner as an ADHD coach, tell me about that learning curve as far as like entrepreneurship and and, you know, you mentioned being fully booked. I think that's every, every coach's dream, right? Just to get just to be fully booked.
19:09
Yeah, yeah. So I'm glad that you asked that, because I am actually working with ADHD coaches to help them build their business without burnout. Because a lot of people have asked me that question, and I said, You know what? I have to create something. So I do have a small group, and I have a book coming out on that, but I knowing business as I do now, 50% of business owners, after two years, quit because they're plateauing and they're not knowing how to get out of that, so they think that that's it for them. And then two to three years after those two years, another 50% of people quit for the same reason. So now you're left with 25% of people. So the first thing that I would say. Is, don't do what everyone else is doing. Follow what energizes you and do that, and don't niche down, contrary to marketers advice, until you take all of the clients that you're looking for I think so many people think I have to do a niche, I have to do a niche, I have to do a niche, but until you have clients under your belt, how do you know what it is that you want and that what you don't want? Right? I thought I wanted students, but now me, personally, I'm working with entrepreneurs and professionals. My other coaches are working with students. So I think take everyone when you first start learn what you like, what you don't like, and once you start getting into the flow, hire a business coach help understand the processes, the systems that you need to understand, gross revenue, net revenue, overhead, how to start delegating, how to bring on an assistant, how to know the tasks that you want to focus on, know the tasks that you shouldn't be focusing on, know how to know your numbers. Or eventually, by my book, and you could read it there too, but I think, but I think it's really just like diving in head first in the beginning and exploring all of your options and knowing what works best for you. And the one of the best advice that I got when I first started coaching was give it six months. Give it six months. See if that can be a revenue generator for you, and it can give you what you're looking for. So I think that's an accurate window of time to if you were to go full time into being an ADHD coach, like get in there. Start reaching out to people in similar fields. Network with them, put yourself online, start generating reviews, get into the field, do things that you probably wouldn't do in five years. When I first started, I was driving an hour and 15 minutes to Miami to work with a fifth grade student for 60 minutes to drive right back for an hour and 15 minutes on a Sunday, so there was less traffic. So I was there a total of three hours and 30 minutes for $90 I would never, ever do that again, but I was building a business. So humble yourself a little bit, and when you first get into business, try everything. You're building a business, and it's hard, and it takes time, and things do not happen overnight, regardless if you see it on social media,
22:51
oh, yeah, don't believe anything there social media, no, yeah, no,
22:55
no, you know, like people say, Oh, I, you know, I was $100,000 in debt, and then I did this, and now all is great, and I'm a millionaire, or whatever, I have, like, 1000s of clients. But what they don't show is all of the work that went into it. So really make sure that you are putting in the time, the effort. Know that it is going to be a time investment, and invest after invest, after some time, into some sort of business building so you can build your business, because a business is exactly that, like you could be the best coach in the world, but if you don't have business skills, likely your business will not grow, and it might shrink and fail. So as you're starting to build a rhythm for yourself, invest in some business coaching, some business books. What have you? Some mentoring so you know where to go and how to track everything. Yeah, it's great advice, yeah. And one of the other first things I would say is your first delegation should be a bookkeeper,
24:01
yes, yeah, definitely. That's that's don't do the books yourself. Yeah, that's important. That's very important. That's great advice. The Yeah, you said a lot of good stuff. There I was. So I have a history in digital marketing, and I was a speaker for, like, a trainer and speaker for Google for about six years, and amazing. So I taught, like, 1000s of business owners how to grow their businesses online. And I have a pretty rich background in digital marketing to begin with, and and, yeah, every time I see something online where somebody says the term seven figures, oh, gosh, or eight figures I run, and I warn people that, like, there it's, there's so much snake oil out there and, and I did a video about this recently, and got some great feedback from, like, a lot of great love from people, because, you know, it's like, you know, eight, eight. Years. Like, how do we not know that all the figures are zero? Because is it zero, a figure, right?
25:07
Love that it could be like, 001,
25:11
right? Exactly, yeah, yeah. Way to go. $1 you're amazing. I want to learn what you know,
25:17
yeah, but also, but also, you're in the people business, right? Like, I understand that we need money to survive, but that is not one of my core values in this business. My my core value, and I think it comes through to people who call is relationships. And I think if you're going into coaching for money, you need to run the other way, because this is not a lucrative business for most people. On average, this is a $60,000 a year job. So if you think that you're going into coaching for seven figures, eight figures, yeah, you're going in for the wrong reasons. That's just my personal opinion.
25:52
Yeah, no, I agree with you, too. And you you do like videos and podcasting to yourself, right?
25:59
I do. I do, and it's funny, so like I scaled naturally. So I did not do videos and podcasting when I first started. I actually hate showing up on videos. I love public speaking, don't get me wrong. But on social media, not so much. So I had another company reach out to me and say, Hey, would you do a co hosting webisode series? So that's how I started in podcasting in 2020 it was called ADHD Power Tools is still up there on YouTube. And then I finally received a client who was a podcast coach, so after he stopped working with me, I said, Look, I've been dying to now I finally have the confidence, because I did this with someone else. But I don't know where to start. I don't know what microphone I need. I don't know what equipment I need. I am so overwhelmed with the details help me start. And so his name's Mark ronick, and I talk openly about it, because he does, too, and he helped me get started on a podcast, and now his team does my editing, and now I show up because I'm having natural conversations with people and all those like little like technical details I don't have to think about, right? So I was able to delegate that execution stuff to him, and I have been meeting some of the most amazing people in the world that were my idols when I first started. And it's the coolest thing, it's not even, it wasn't even the goal of the podcast. The goal of the podcast was to show up for as many ADHD years as possible. But in it, I've built a lot of relationships, so it's just been amazing.
27:45
Yeah, podcasting is such a great medium. I studied radio and television broadcasting before going back to school and studying business, marketing and communications, and I started podcast next year will be 20 years podcasting for me, Wow, but I had, I known I had ADHD, I would have stayed with the first one, and then I would have like, Joe Rogan money, oh, my God. But instead, I've had like, seven or eight podcasts over the years, but I expect this wise squirrels will be the last one, now that I am being treated for my ADHD, and also because this is also probably my second, or maybe first, most successful podcast, because of the the feedback I get from from listeners, the reviews, and it's just every time I get a review or an Email or anything I just like, or a Patreon subscriber. Even better, it just warms my heart. Like and it it helps me realize that, you know, what I'm doing is worthwhile. Yeah, yeah. And so with podcasting and but the thing is, for me, like having this history, I edit my own shows, like I do everything myself, but I do it because it's a lot of work. I have a pretty good system down, but it is a lot of work. But one of the reasons why I do it myself is because there's something called the production effect in psychology, where you remember things audibly when you say it out loud, sort of like, you know, when you meet somebody at a networking event and you were you say their name, you know, it's nice to meet you. Brooke, oh, what brings you to the event? Brooke, Oh, yeah. Well, it was great chatting. Brooke, you know, hopefully I'll see you next time, and you say it out loud several times, and that helps you retain that that name. I teach a lot. I do a lot of corporate training and workshops about communication skills, and I wrote a book called new business networking. So networking is a topic near and dear to my heart. And so I say all this because when I edit the podcast, it helps me, like I genuinely want to learn from you. You know, I want to learn from my guests about this stuff. And so when I edit, I get to listen again and again through the editing process. And that helps me. Be and I also get rid of some of the stupid stuff. I say, yeah, like, interesting,
30:05
interesting.
30:09
We'll pause for a quick drink. All right, there you go.
30:15
I love that. I love that. And, you know, you say networking, and I think it's great that you've gotten into this field, right? Because I think in business, you have to it's relationships, whether it's networking or internal. And one thing that I think so many of us fail to recognize is, once you build a business like, don't forget about the clients that you're building, right like, these are the people that you serve. Like, stop focusing so much on the external marketing and sales, and start, like, looking inward into how you can help the clients that you do have even more and ask them for what they want. And that's really how I've grown by asking them what they want, what they need, what what's the future for them? And that's how I've organically created the systems in coaching with Brooke
31:08
and tell me about some of the systems that have helped you run your business in a way that, like other entrepreneurs can can learn from maybe, maybe, whether it's software. I know it's all different for different people, of course, but what are some of the strategies or things that have worked for you
31:27
well, particularly, and this is not answering your question, but I'll get back to it, if it's okay, particularly for the the clients, like when I first started, I was doing one on one coaching, and one of my clients said to me, I love This, but I would also love to learn from other people that you're working with. So organically, I put all my clients together in a small group, came up with the themes of what was going on in their life. They all learned from each other. I came up with lessons every week, and then did it again with the same people because they liked it, and then created our signature process through the activation. So that was one thing that was created organically based on their needs. Another thing that we did was healing ADHD emotions, which was an emotional regulation. Course, okay, but to answer your question on things that have made the business building easier. I would say the number one software that I love that has helped me was Asana in growing with my coaches, with my assistant, using an Asana board where we can dump all of the things we're thinking about, where we don't have to verbally or impulsively share it with the coaches or with my assistant until we have our meeting. Has been so helpful, because it gets it out of my head, it gets it onto a board where we're both looking at it and we check it off when we meet. Yeah, that has been super helpful.
33:00
Yeah, that's a great tip. Software can be so helpful. And, yeah, it's strange. I actually just discovered, not, I didn't just discover it. I've known about it, and I've dabbled. I poked at it over the years, but I only just started using notion. And it's, I think it's notion.io, I think. And it's that, yeah, not a sponsorship. Maybe they should be paying me, but, yeah, it's really fantastic. And I like it in a similar sort of way to Asana, where you have, like, you could have visual boards. It is, yeah, it's a great thing. So I do, yeah, I do recommend, yeah, anybody who's like, I work for myself. For the most part, I've got a couple people that help me with some stuff, but for the most part, it's myself. So I just have my single notion license, and I use that just to keep up with my meetings and my notes and things I gotta do each day, and the urgency and the due dates and all that stuff too. Because, as we know with ADHD, if you don't have a due date and you don't see it looming, you know that's that's not going to be a good situation for you to actually finish anything. And certainly, my book, my next book that I'm working on now, is a great example of that, where my first book I did with a traditional publisher, and so I had, like, deliverable dates and all that stuff. So I had a contract. I had a legally, you know, hand off the sections as promised and as legally agreed, but, and that was with undiagnosed ADHD. Somehow, I don't know how I did that, but my next one, I'm self publishing, and so that one's taken way longer. Mm,
34:38
hmm, well, it's funny. So my first book was self published, and my second book is going to be self published too. And the way that I was accountable was literally setting goals with my business coach and coming back to those accountability dates with them.
34:51
Yeah, it's just the power of having a coach, right? I mean, I'm coaching two people right now. I'm not an ADHD coach, nor do I play one on the internet. But I am a coach with ADHD, and so I know a couple things. In fact, my ADHD coach was like, she was like, Dave, oh my god, you know more than I do now, because I've been so like, heads, like, all in on one podcast
35:13
too. I'm sure, yeah, exactly. There's so much you learn, yeah. And when you said, like, What software do you use? Of course, there's great software, like you said, notion Asana, but I think the basic thing is, like, don't get so caught up in the software. Just find a place, whatever it is that works for you, and stick to it until it doesn't work. Yeah,
35:35
I have a friend, Chase Jarvis, who's kind of like a pretty popular photographer online and things, anyway, and he, I think he coined this, the term it was like, in the photography world, it's like, the best camera is the camera you have with you. So it's the same sort of thinking, right?
35:54
Yeah, did he? It's so funny that you mentioned his name. Is he the one who did filmmaker Pro, Yeah, course, for filmmakers, probably,
36:03
yeah, yeah, he's been, I've been, I'm pretty early adopters. I've been on the the the internet since the very early days. And so, yeah, we all, we all know one another through, like, various events and conferences South by Southwest and all those over the years. Okay, cool, yeah. So as far as, like, executive functioning skills, and I know this is something you do a lot of coaching on, tell me a little bit about some of the I think one of the most confusing things I find with executive all. So much about ADHD, really, DSM five and all that is and even diagnosis of ADHD is not always like it's not 100% necessarily. It's very much reliant on the opinion of the doctor who's seeing you. And I bring that up because there are so many different definitions of executive functioning skills or executive functions, right? Like, there's Brown. Dr, browns are pretty popular. But like, some people say six, there's six of them. Some people say there's eight, some people say there's 12, and sometimes it's the same thing said a different way. Um, how do you define executive functioning skills and, and? And maybe some tips on on helping folks, as far as coaching on that. Well, the
37:25
DSM five is the DSM five. So regardless of what executive functioning model you go through, if it's brown or Barclay or someone else's, the executive functions in it are in the DSM five. So it's just clustered differently with Barclay and brown. So in the DSM five, it says that you need to have six out of nine of the executive functioning skills in is showing as a deficit in your life in two or more areas for over six months. So like distractibility, daydreaming, getting started, execution, working memory, processing, speed, emotions, you know, all of those are executive functions. So if with Dr Thomas Brown, let's say we look at his model, he has six clusters, and they all work together, but you need to have one that is of a def one or more that's a deficit. So the I think the biggest thing for people listening is ADHD does not develop overnight. So if you're an adult who's listening to this podcast, you had to exhibit six out of those nine symptoms before the age of 12. So it might be different symptoms in the DSM five that are of like you might have been hyperactive, for instance, when you were a child, but not as hyperactive as an adult. So if you don't feel like you're as hyperactive as an adult, don't worry about it. You still might have exhibited some symptoms as a child. So the it ranges and it varies over time, and they also, I know there's three criterias of ADHD. There's the hyperactive, impulsive, which is the classic ADHD from what you think of the boy in the classroom that can't sit still. Then there's the inattentive, and that was formerly known as add and then there's combined. So it's symptoms of both. Now psychologists are talking about having no differentiation between those three areas and actually just calling it ADHD, because the symptoms do change over time, but that has not changed in the DSM five.
39:54
It's such a confusing thing too, because, yeah, anytime I hear somebody wrap. Prints Add To me, it just means that they've been in this world of ADHD much longer, or they were diagnosed with ADD like, because ADHD is just it's, it is add like. And I have these conversations with people sometimes and they're confused, and I'm like, no, no, no, like, it just has a new name, basically, like it was rebranded, even though some would argue ADHD even isn't a great brand to begin with, but it's better than, like, hyperkinetic child or whatever their early stuff was so and it's interesting, too, with like the DSM five being, you know, it's like a star chamber of experts who decide what is in that and what is not so, like things like misophonia or like RSD, are not D is not in it. It's not in it, even though the the the assumptions, at least, are that it is probably associated but because it's not part of the DSM. I don't know. What are your thoughts on that.
41:03
Well, Bill Dodson, dr, Bill Dodson talks about rejection sensitivity as being one of, like, the most classic things that you deal with with ADHD, and that is because of, like, perceived rejection or actual rejection. But as an ADHD year, they say that before the age of 10, we're listening to 20,000 more negative messages than a neurotypical. So like, who wouldn't, with ADHD have rejection as an adult, or perceived rejection if you're receiving all those negative messages before the age of 10. So I definitely think that rejection, not only rejection sensitive dysphoria, but rejection sensitivity, hypersensitivity, is a classic symptom of ADHD. I mean they, they say, like over sensitivity, the over the hyper hypersensitive child, right? Like when you hear of that, you start thinking it's a possibility that they might have ADHD. I think all of those are true. I think with misophonia, that can be in different classifications, just like rejection can, but misophonia can be an a sign of a symptom of autism, it could be a symptom of trauma, it could be a symptom of anxiety, it could be a symptom of ADHD, right? Like, what is causing the misophonia? Yeah, I've had misophonia my whole life, but, yes, yeah, so I think that ADHD is very complex, and that's why it's not a one size fits all solution. I heard someone say that there's like 6000 different ways ADHD can manifest, and it's but going back to something you said, it's not the opinion, of course, of the doctor, it's following the checklist, yes, the DSM five, yes. And that right now is still the most popular way of getting a diagnosis, and what they say as the most accurate way of getting the ADHD diagnosis, yeah.
43:14
And I always tell people, you know, like, if you're talking to your family doctor about this. And again, I don't, I don't pretend to be a doctor or an ADHD coach on the show or anywhere. But I do tell people like, ask before going in to talk to your doctor, like your GP or whomever like, ask them you know about ADHD. Like, ask them about their opinion about ADHD, because there's still quacks out there even doctors who like don't believe it or something, and if your doctor happens to be one of those doctors, it's time to find a new doctor. So just wanted to point that out. Winding this down, being respectful of your time, Brooke, let us know how we can get a hold of you. Learn more about the coaching that you do, because I know you've got a wealth of information and and a lot of great stuff, so I want to make sure that everybody checks you out.
44:08
Thanks, Dave. Yeah, it's been a pleasure. So everything is on coaching with Brooke, with any so my website, Instagram is one of our biggest platforms. We have daily tips and free post there, but if it's if you're an adult, you're a student or your parent looking to support yourself with chaos to clarity with ADHD, I would go to our website, coaching with Brooke, and fill out a quick form to apply for a complimentary discovery call.