Having ADD or ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Hear from people all around the globe, from every walk of life, in every profession, from Rock Stars to CEOs, from Teachers to Politicians, who have learned how to unlock the gifts of their ADD and ADHD diagnosis, and use it to their personal and professional advantage, to build businesses, become millionaires, or simply better their lives.  

Our Guest today:  Morgan Hancock is a commercial Real Estate Agent, Entrepreneur, US Army Veteran, Mother-of-two, “Bourbonista” , and passionate advocate of the Arts. She is a charismatic force who can completely capture a room, radiating positivity with a disarming demeanor and sharp sense of humor. Growing up as an only child in a small town, Morgan spent much of her time alone reading, writing, and creating. With an overactive imagination and natural talent, art became an early passion. Taking an atypical path to her current success, Morgan has never let her context stand in the way of her ambition. She believes that art, like life, is only limited by your imagination, and it's up to you to create your own world. Morgan created Bourbon with Heart as a way to leverage the influence and popularity of Bourbon, in order to raise funds, bring awareness, educate, provide better access and deliver a first-class Arts experience to every person in Kentucky! Regardless of age, race, class, gender, or ability. 

About the company: Bourbon with Heart is Kentucky's first & only arts-focused bourbon charity. Bourbon with Heart's (501c3) mission is to leverage the influence and popularity of Bourbon to raise funds, bring awareness, educate, provide better access and deliver a first-class arts experience to every person in Kentucky regardless of age, race, class, gender, or ability. This interview was a blast! [Ed: and made my Producer/Editor a little emotional]. Enjoy and thanks so much for subscribing to Faster Than Normal!  [you are now here ] 

00:40 - Thank you again so much for listening and for subscribing!

02:00 - Introducing and welcome Morgan Hancock, Founder & Director

Bourbon with Heart, Inc. 

02:33 - Thank you for your Service! [And to all of you who served- your family too if applicable!]

03:25 - On service and Peter’s training. “My ADHD probably would have been I would have served me well to have been in some branch of the military, just for the discipline” -ps

04:17 - What’s it like to be ADHD and in place w/ such discipline, such rigid controls; like the Army?

04:24 - And... we’re now flying over Giza!  Ref:  https://www.instagram.com/p/B34UmeQlZE_/

05:09 - When were you diagnosed?

06:04 - A little of Morgan’s backstory

07:09 - On The Military 

08:02 - On becoming a very young mother 

09:03 - On parenting, and a couple of exciting childhoods

11:12 - Ok, I wanna know about Bourbon with Heart?!

12:53 - How’s your company doing?

14:17 - Peter’s toughest day in Louisville… almost a decade ago

15:05 - What if any advice would you have for your younger self?

16:27 - This was fantastic.. thank you Morgan. Please stay in touch!

17:01 -  How do our spectacular subscribers find out more about you? 

Web:   https://bourbonwithheart.org  Email: BourbonWithHeart@gmail.com

Socials:  @bourbonwithheart on INSTA  YouTube and Facebook

17:11 - Thank you so much for making time for all of us today Morgan!!

17:18 - Hey, you there! Yes YOU! We are thrilled that you are here & listening! 

ADHD and all forms of Neurodiversity are gifts, not curses. And by the way, if you haven't picked up The Boy with the Faster Brain yet, it is on Amazon and it is a number one bestseller in all categories. Click HERE or via https://amzn.to/3FcAKkI My link tree is here if you’re looking for something specific. https://linktr.ee/petershankman

17:24 - Faster Than Normal Podcast info & credits. Guys, as always thanks so much for subscribing! Faster Than Normal is for YOU! We want to know what you’d like to hear! Do you have a cool friend with a great story? We’d love to learn about, and from them. I'm www.petershankman.com and you can reach out anytime via email at peter@shankman.com or @petershankman on all of the socials. You can also find us at @FasterNormal on all of the socials. It really helps when you drop us a review on iTunes and of course, subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already! As you know, the more reviews we get, the more people we can reach. Help us to show the world that ADHD is a gift, not a curse! 

[ Ed: This is a relatively brand new experiment in editing show notes, transcriptions sort of; so if you notice any important, or significant goofs we’ve missed here or along, please do let us know @FasterNormal  Thanks! -sb] 

—

TRANSCRIPT via Castmagic.io and then corrected.. somewhat, (Ooh-ooh! Third and likely final trial run is today May 30, 2023. #gen_AI_for_whut??

Peter Shankman [00:00:40]: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to their episode of faster than normal. How about we raise a glass of bourbon today? I don't actually well, that's not true. I've had bourbon. I like bourbon, but like most things, I rarely drink anymore, because, as we know, I don't just have one drink.

Peter Shankman [00:00:58]:  We are talking today on this gorgeous day I'm recording on a Thursday. I'm doing all my recordings on a Thursday this week, and it's it's beautiful out. It's it's about 68 degrees in New York. It's sunny and a cloud in the sky. It's a gorgeous day, and I'm inside recording all day. And this Saturday, it's going to be raining into the 40s. It's like god's personal gag reel. I just don't I don't understand the universe sometimes. Anyway, we have a fun guest on faster than normal day.

We are talking to Morgan Hancock. Morgan Hancock is a plethora of things. I believe that everyone should make it an effort to use the word plethora at least once a day. Morgan includes you. I want you to start using the word plethora.

Morgan [00:01:39]: At least I use it five times a day.

Peter Shankman [00:01:40]: There you go. I like her!

Morgan is a commercial real estate agent. She's an entrepreneur. She's an Army veteran. She's a mother of two. She's a get this “Bourbonista”, okay, which has to be my new favorite word. And she's a passionate advocate of the arts. She launched something called bourbon with heart. It's Kentucky's first and only arts focused bourbon charity. Bourbon with heart's mission is to leverage the influence and popularity of bourbon to raise funds, bring awareness, educate, provide better access, and deliver a first class arts experience to every person in Kentucky, regardless of age, race, class, gender, or ability. I absolutely love that. As a public school kid who grew up in the performing arts, I think that is hands down, one of the coolest things I've ever heard. Oh and by the way, Morgan also has massive ADHD. Welcome to the show. We're thrilled to have you.

Morgan [00:02:33]: Thank you. And let me we started by saying we are Kentucky's first and only arts focused bourbon charity. But pretty sure we could just claim the world because I'm almost 100% certain nobody in the world has an Arts focused Bourbon charity.

Peter Shankman [00:02:52]: I'm pretty sure I've never heard of one. I haven't been looking, but I'd be willing to bet that you're probably right on that. I'm talking to Morgan today and she's has her camera on. I'm looking in the background. She has this gorgeous her desk is full of stuff and she has this gorgeous collection of color swatches adorning her wall where normal in any other room it would be at a place. For some reason, it just seems to fit her style. She looks awesome as she's talking to us and it just seems to work. So, welcome to the podcast. We're thrilled to have you here. First question I got to ask you. So you're an army vet? Thank you for your service.

Number one.But more importantly, let's talk about I've Often said that looking back on it.

My ADHD probably would have been I would have served me well to have been in some branch of the military. Just for the discipline. Because when I was in my late.Twenty s, I met a former Navy.Seal who was teaching a boot camp class in New York City. Come to New York, he lived in Houston, came New York four times a year for two weeks at a time, and taught a boot camp class.And it was basically like being in the field for two straight weeks every Morning for two weeks. And I remember, granted, it was only 2 hours a day as opposed to in your aspect, 24/7, but the discipline that he required from us has stuck with me to this day. He's the reason I'm early. Everywhere I go, he's the reason that I'm not on time, I'm early and things like that So I don't know if you were Diagnosed by the time you entered the army, but let's first and foremost talk About what it's like to be in A place with such discipline and such rigid controls. Like the army, like the military, with ADHD.

Morgan [00:04:24]:  Okay, well, first, it's a little awkward to people that can't see. So I'm just talking to you while you're jumping out of a plane in.

Peter Shankman [00:04:33]: Egypt over the pyramids of Giza.Yes.

Morgan [00:04:35]:

So I've never interviewed with someone who's actually in the air over Giza. This is school for the people listening. His camera is not live right now, so he has the placeholder photo, which is him, skydiving or parasailing, I can't tell in Egypt. So I feel like that's I'm interviewing with him while he's doing that. I feel like really boring over here right now.

Peter Shankman [00:05:07]:  Not at all!

Morgan [00:05:09]: So, to answer your question, I wasn't diagnosed by that time. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 31. And I'm 37 almost, will be in a couple of months. My personality, if that's what you call it, did not do well in the military. I was constantly in trouble. I got transferred. I'll just say I got kicked out of a platoon, put in a different platoon. I was always on the verge of being written up for different issues. Bu. I made it. I served my time. I got honorable discharge. I made it. But I don't suggest it. The military as a place for people.

Peter Shankman [00:05:56]: With ADHD, why were you constantly getting written up? Was it lack of attention? Was it lack of focus? What was causing it?

Morgan [00:06:04]: Yeah, all the above and just kind of my whole life struggling with authority or any type of rigid systems and structured and just always kind of bouncing all over the place and kind of always being the class clown type, which really doesn't go over in the military. They just don't have a good sense of humor, I'll say that.

Peter Shankman [00:06:36]: So basically your time in the military was like my time in school.

Morgan [00:06:39]: Yeah, if you were a class clown, then yeah, I just tried to be a class clown in the military, and drill sergeants don't appreciate that. There's not like a superlative or you can win class clown. There's awards, honors and medals, but not for class clown and not for the funniest.

Peter Shankman [00:07:00]: You got through it, though, right? Was there a point where you realized, gee, maybe I should shut up. Maybe I should stop making jokes?

Morgan [00:07:09]: Yeah, because my arts and legs would hurt because of the punishments. And then because they do mass punishment.

Peter Shankman [00:07:22]: Everyone had to do it.

Morgan [00:07:23]: And you were getting trouble. Yeah, I thought, maybe I shouldn't do this, but then it's like I just couldn't resist either, so I just stayed in trouble and just don't recommend that's really my review of being in the military.

Peter Shankman [00:07:44]: But you did it. You got through it. You got through it. Congratulations. 

   Morgan [00:07:47]: I did it, yeah. By the skin of my teeth, I got out of there.

Peter Shankman [00:07:52]:

So talk about; your an Army veteran, and prior to that you had a kid.

Morgan [00:08:02]: Yeah, so I was 15 with my first son. I have two. One is 20 years old now. So it's crazy because we grew up together, and then I have a 13 year old, so I got pregnant with my second son also while I was in the military. I had one before I joined and than the second one during.

Peter Shankman [00:08:30]: Are you married? Are you single?

Morgan [00:08:32]: I'm not married, but not single. What do you call that?

Peter Shankman [00:08:37]: Cohabitation? Doesn't matter. I guess the question I was going to ask is, what is it like raising a kid, a, when you're young. And by that, I mean, I've raised my Daughter when I've had ADHD, but I also had her at almost 40 years old.

Right.

So I had a little more life experience under my belt. What was that like for you? What were some of the, I guess, difficulties that you had to go through?

I can't imagine anyone having a kid at 15, bet it wasn’t easy, but what was it like for you?

Morgan [00:09:03]: Right. I know it couldn't have been easy. If you just look at the facts of it, there's no way it could have been easy, but it's weird because honestly, sometimes it's just hard to remember. I think also when you're young, you just don't think about things being hard, you just do them and you just don't think, oh, this is now. If I had to do it now, I'd be like moaning and groaning, complaining about every step of the way. But I think when you're young, you're different. Maybe you're just a little more adaptable. But he had to go on some wild rides with me. I was always kind of rebelling or doing things against the norm and having a new phase or interest every other month or couple of months. So he definitely did not have a traditional upbringing. I pulled him out of school for many years to do homeschooling, if that's what you call it. I don't know how you exactly define homeschooling. We weren't in school. We'll say that.

Peter Shankman [00:10:16]: It sounds like it was interesting, though, for him. It sounds like it was never boring.

Morgan [00:10:19]:  Oh, no, definitely not. I think it was called ‘unschooling’ at that time, and it was just the reason I did that is because school just wasn't beneficial to me. If anything, it felt a lot like wasted time. And he was also just a very passionate person like me. And so I just knew that school in a lot of ways was going to hold him back the way I felt it did for me. So he really didn't go to school most of his life, and I don't have any regrets of that decision. I think he's one of the most mature, just turned 20 year olds than I know. He pays all his own bills. He has a fantastic job making more than most 40 year olds I know.

Peter Shankman [00:11:12]: Yeah, I want to talk about Bourbon with heart. So a nonprofit to help the arts is always an amazing thing!! I mean, I'm on the board of a couple of them here in New York, but why bourbon? What's your connection to bourbon other than Kentucky?

Morgan [00:11:31]: Well, if you live in Kentucky, as you said, you can't help but be impacted by bourbon. It's a huge part of our culture, of our economy. I love bourbon. I've been a fan of bourbon since well, I can't say how long, because we'll just say since I legally could be. And bourbon in Kentucky has this kind of incredible power to people really unite around it, because, as I said, it is a culture and it brings people together. And there's this bond than bourbon forms, and art does the same thing. Art unites people and brings people together. And one thing that people, everyone in the world knows Kentucky is the leader of the bourbon industry, but people don't realize we have a really rich and thriving arts culture in Kentucky and a ton of talent. So we took bourbon with heart, got them as a way to leverage that existing popularity and influence of bourbon to then bring the awareness and educate people and raise funds for the local art scene. And it's working.

Peter Shankman [00:12:53]: How is it working?

Morgan [00:12:54]: It's working because it has been met with so much support and enthusiasm. I mean, people just naturally when we launched this, I did not expect the rapid success and for everyone to just be so to just embrace it with open arms. I mean, corporations, our local businesses, the distilleries, the media, the artists in our community, and everyone just has embraced us with open arms and everyone's all of a sudden, wow, art and bourbon was such a natural marriage. And so many things are just growing from this initial concept. We're on our fourth exhibit this year. We're already over $100,000 that we've raised this year. And we have some really huge partnerships coming with big community players coming up in the coming years or next year. It's bringing people together that you would not typically see in the same room. And that's a beautiful thing. And let me also I don't know if you mentioned this, but yes, we raise funds and we raise awareness for the local arts community, but we raise funds for other local nonprofits. So we've given away almost $45,000 to other nonprofits that aren't arts related.

Peter Shankman [00:14:12]: Very cool. That's a phenomenal what a cool concept. Marrying the two. You wouldn't really think it's funny but, I want to say I have a love hate relationship with Kentucky, but primarily just a hate relationship. In 2014, I ran the Louisville Ironman and it was the last year they ever did it in the summer because the starting temperature was 104 degrees and it was hands down the most painful and difficult Iron Man Triathlon I've ever done in my life. And I remember being back at the airport after it was over and saying, I am never I don't even want to fly over Louisville. It was so hot and so miserable. But I got through it. And the people there were wonderful as they rescued my dehydrated ass from nearly dying. So great people, but your weather sucks ass.

Morgan [00:15:03]: That being said, I agree.

Peter Shankman [00:15:05]: What a cool concept and I'm so glad we took the time. Let me ask you one final question, Morgan. Let's say you're walking down the street and you come across a 15 year old who is much like you were at 15, undiagnosed ADHD, school, bores her. Things really, aren't you're not really seeing what's out there and you want more. You just don't know how to get it. What do you tell her?

Morgan [00:15:27]:  You're not going to find it in that boy. Start with that. That's probably what she's needing to hear at than point that's honestly one of the main things. And then just chase your passions because basically what I've had to do. All the energy that fuels and drives me now to make me successful in these endeavors. Bourbon with heart. It's really kind of the same energy that got me in trouble in the past. I just learned how to harness it for more positive, socially acceptable, not self damaging things. I would tell them to take that energy and harness it. They can still let it all out, but harness it for something that's not going to get you in trouble.

Peter Shankman [00:16:25]:  I love that. Morgan Hancock, this was an honest pleasure. Thank you so much. I'd love to have you back at some point.

Morgan [00:16:31]: Thank you. Thank you.

Peter Shankman [00:16:32]: Awesome guys. As always.

Faster Than Normal is for you. We want to know who you want to hear other really cool people like Morgan. Send us a note. I am Peter@shankman.com. I am at Peter Shankman on all the Socials except Twitter. I don't use it anymore because it's evil. At FasterNormal everywhere as well, including instagram. Everywhere. Everywhere in the world that social media exists except Twitter. We will be back next week with another awesome episode and another awesome guest just like Morgan. Oh, Morgan! How can people find you?!

Morgan [00:17:01]: 17:01 -  How do our spectacular subscribers find out more about you? Web:   https://bourbonwithheart.org  Email: BourbonWithHeart@gmail.com

Socials:  @bourbonwithheart on INSTA  YouTube and Facebook

Peter Shankman [00:17:11]: Very cool guys. We will see you next week. As always, thanks for listening. ADHD is a gift, not a curse. All neurodiversity is amazing. You're not broken, you're brilliant. See you next week.

—

Credits: You've been listening to the Faster Than Normal podcast. We're available on iTunes, Stitcher and Google play and of course at www.FasterThanNormal.com I'm your host, Peter Shankman and you can find me at shankman.com and @petershankman on all of the socials. If you like what you've heard, why not head over to your favorite podcast platform of choice and leave us a review, come more people who leave positive reviews, the more the podcast has shown, and the more people we can help understand that ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Opening and closing themes were composed and produced by Steven Byrom who also produces this podcast, and the opening introduction was recorded by Bernie Wagenblast. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next week! 

Having ADD or ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Hear from people all around the globe, from every walk of life, in every profession, from Rock Stars to CEOs, from Teachers to Politicians, who have learned how to unlock the gifts of their ADD and ADHD diagnosis, and use it to their personal and professional advantage, to build businesses, become millionaires, or simply better their lives.  

Our Guest today:  Konrad runs a charming team of strategic word-slingers, known as The Creative Copywriter. They’re a fast-growing content strategy and copywriting agency that blend art with science to help bold brands sell more stuff. Brands like Adidas, Hyundai, TikTok, Geox, Les Benjamins, Superdrug, PTC, Thomson Reuters, VMWare and plenty more. His mission? To break the boundaries of corporate dullness. And help companies pierce through the noise with ‘real talk’, ‘word science’ and calculated creativity. We’re also taking about how to harness and Neurodiverse Superpower techniques today.. duh. Enjoy and thanks so much for subscribing to Faster Than Normal!  [ you are here ] 

00:40 - Thank you again so much for listening and for subscribing!

00:57 - Introducing and welcome Konrad Sanders!

01:34 - What do you do when you run a creative company and have ADHD?

02:00 - How are you Konrad?

03:02 - What’s your back story? Ok, your business’s back story then!

04:00 - Incredible procrastinator also? Tell us in the comments! 

04:40 - On life and Travelogue

05:20 - On career beginnings

06:40 - On meeting his business partner and wife! Who is NOT ADHD or Neurodiverse…

09:50 - On the ADHD/Neurodiverse brain and a non-neurodiverse partner

10:37 - What makes it work.. I mean your marriage + biz partnership; what 5 tools do you use?!

11:27 - The steps Konrad has taken and processes they is practicing

12:32 - Ref: Gemba Kaizen and  Techniques 

14:37 - On dividing up the day-to-day work responsibilities, time management, ah, + hyperfocus!

17:16 -  How do our spectacular subscribers find out more about you? 

Web: www.konradsanders.com  Email:  info@creative-copywriter.net

Socials:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/konradsanders/

18:00 - Thank you so much for making time for all of us today Konrad.

[Konrad has kindly shared a few of his links/works with you and here they are]: 

WATCH/LISTEN:  Speaking with Tyler from Yes Optimist! On sales funnels: https://youtu.be/R8DXWhT_NAY 

Panel discussion with The Fountain Partnership on the state of SaaS Marketing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrqYKxBKsuU&t=1s 

How to make your content zig when the industry zags with Sales Impact Academy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdT6W7OJNeY 

How to make money writing online with Teachable: https://discover.teachable.com/workshops/make-money-writing-how-to-turn-your-word-skills-into-wages 

How Konrad copes with ADHD as a CEO and founder: https://deezer.page.link/3EByB6ncxtm26D4L9 

How Konrad builds business brand based on demand (Brand Harder or Go Home)

https://street.agency/podcast/brand-harder-or-go-home-with-konrad-sanders/ 

READ:  The 13 Lenses approach to writing content that converts on Neal Schaffer: https://nealschaffer.com/how-to-create-content/ 

Are B2B SaaS Marketers getting it wrong on Tech Crunch: https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/26/are-b2b-saas-marketers-getting-it-wrong/ 

Why your marketers should stop marketing on The Drum: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2021/10/14/why-marketers-should-stop-marketing 

18:44 - Hey, you there! Yes YOU! We are thrilled that you are here & listening! 

ADHD and all forms of Neurodiversity are gifts, not curses. And by the way, if you haven't picked up The Boy with the Faster Brain yet, it is on Amazon and it is a number one bestseller in all categories. Click HERE or via https://amzn.to/3FcAKkI My link tree is here if you’re looking for something specific. https://linktr.ee/petershankman

18:46 - Faster Than Normal Podcast info & credits. Guys, as always thanks so much for subscribing! Faster Than Normal is for YOU! We want to know what you’d like to hear! Do you have a cool friend with a great story? We’d love to learn about, and from them. I'm www.petershankman.com and you can reach out anytime via email at peter@shankman.com or @petershankman on all of the socials. You can also find us at @FasterNormal on all of the socials. It really helps when you drop us a review on iTunes and of course, subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already! As you know, the more reviews we get, the more people we can reach. Help us to show the world that ADHD is a gift, not a curse! 

[ Ed: This is a relatively brand new experiment in editing show notes, transcriptions sort of; so if you notice any important, or significant goofs we’ve missed here or along, please do let us know @FasterNormal  Thanks! -sb] 

—

TRANSCRIPT via Castmagic.io and then corrected.. somewhat, (Ooh-ooh! Second trial run is today May 23, 2023. #gen_AI_for_whut??
—

Summary:  

- Background in philosophy, copywriting, and SEO.

- The challenges the speaker faced due to ADHD and how it helped him understand his limitations and strengths.

- Medication and ADHD coach.

- A lean management approach and agile process.

- Difficulties with time management and hyperfocusing.

- Struggles with planning and organization in personal life.

- "The Boy with the Faster Brain" and its success in sales.

- Acknowledging the challenge of living or working with someone who has a brain different from yours.

- The importance of acknowledging the struggles of non-ADHD partners or colleagues.

- The speaker's tendency to go off on tangents during conversations.”

—

Peter Shankman [00:00:40]: Hey everyone, Peter Shankman here. Welcome to another episode of Faster Than Normal. Glad to have you. It is a Friday here. We're recording on a different day for a change, but it is kind of gray and gloomy outside, so what better thing to do than be inside talking to cool people? Today we have Conrad Sanders. Conrad has an interesting backstory. He's masali ADHD and he runs a company, as he puts it, a charming team of strategic word slingers known as the Creative Copywriter. His company is a fast growing strategy and copywriting agency that blends art with science to help bold brands sell more stuff. He has clients like Adidas, Hyundai, TikTok, A, Superdrug, PTC, Thompson, Reuters, VMware so names, you know, he tries to break the boundaries of corporate dullness. I love that. What do you do when you run a creative company and you are ADHD? I have discovered this when I was running Help a Reporter Out about twelve years ago now, problem is, you're so creative tend to forget the day to day. And so I want to ask Conrad and I want you guys to hear how he handles that. So welcome, Konrad. Good to have you.

Konrad Sanders [00:01:50]: Yeah, thanks for having me. I'll just say that I'm across the pond. You might be able to tell from my accent. And believe it or not, it is a rare sunny day here on this.

Peter Shankman [00:02:00]: I was going to say yeah, I figured it would be cloudy and rainy just like it is here, but no, you have a sunny day in London. Nice.

Konrad Sanders [00:02:05]: Yeah, we've had the worst weather this year possible, but the skies have opened up and the sun is shining, so I can't complain.

Peter Shankman [00:02:14]: I'm hoping it stays that way. I'm going to be there on Sunday, so please keep it that way if you could.

Konrad Sanders [00:02:18]: I'll do my best.

Peter Shankman [00:02:19]: All right, so tell me about running a company when you're ADHD, because I know my story, but every story is different. Tell me your backstory. When were you diagnosed? The whole thing?

Konrad Sanders [00:02:29]: Yeah, I mean, I think if I tell you my backstory, I think it's probably best to start with the backstory of the business. Like how that kind of started because I was only diagnosed a year and a half ago. Okay. I think that the diagnosis once I got it, it made a lot of sense, right? Once I kind of understood more about ADHD, looking back at my journey, my life journey, things made a lot more sense. It explained a lot, essentially. But shall I start with kind of the beginnings of the creative copywriter? I'll try to be succinct story and how I've got to where I am today. So I think it all helps you understand my journey and where I'm at and how we operate now. So I'll start off the uni left uni. I studied philosophy at Uni. I was one of the kind of guy that didn't go to found it very hard to go to lectures when it came to writing essays. I always left it literally to the last day and would drink loads of coffee. And I was good at kind of cutting corners and good at writing. Right? And I was good at cramming things in. Obviously, this is a sort of trait of having ADHD, leaving things the last minute and only being good at working under pressure, but being extremely good once, I'm very pressured again. I didn't know at the time I had ADHD. I just thought I was an incredible kind of procrastinator. I just didn't really understand why I could never start a project until it was, like, right at the last very minute. So Left Uni went traveling in Australia, all around Australia, met my wife well, she's now my wife, a girlfriend at the time, and she's also the managing director of the agency. So she's played a very important role in my life for many reasons. She also has a very different brain to me, to mine even. And anyway, we met traveling in Australia. She's from Israel originally. So I ended up there after two years of being in Australia, traveling Southeast Asia on a shoestring budget, literally, and ended up in her parents house in Israel without a work visa because it took a while to apply for one. And that's when I basically discovered the art and science of copywriting and SEO and kind of combined those things to sort of start a business and start an online business, which has kind of grown since Than and later in that journey. So I was kind of very good at kind of the sales, the marketing, the ideas. And actually, what some people don't know about me and my kind of entrepreneurial journey, which I'll share for you guys, is that that wasn't the only business idea I had. Right? There were plenty of the things, and I definitely had shiny object syndrome. And early on in the journey of our agency and I started as a freelancer, quickly kind of wanted to grow it and managed to kind of turn Than into a collective, gradually was building an agency. But I had what we call what I call shiny object syndrome, right? I was like, anything that came my way, I wanted to jump on and was hugely optimistic with time, which is again a common trait and terrible with time. So there was a point at which, believe it or not, I was kind of a co founder of, I believe, five different businesses, right, because there would be friends going, hey, why don't you join the Brcmo for this? And it made no sense, right? It didn't make sense. You can't really focus, and focus is extremely important as a business owner. And I gradually kind of understood that I was burning out, basically, I was doing too many things, spreading myself way too thin, doing far too many things, and then kind of matured a bit and understood I need to focus on the agency. That's the only thing making money. There's lots of potential there and a key milestone, right? A key ingredient in this sort of recipe or this journey, was my wife joining in 2017, and she has a very different brain to me. And she was in the NGO world prior to that, trying to solve the conflicts in her region. Didn't manage to do so. Kind of felt disillusioned with that whole NGO sort of world. And I said, hey, why don't you join us? It's when we're a small kind of, I think, a few person agency at the time and using freelancers, why don't you join? I know you're good with project management, that kind of stuff, right? You've got an operational type brain, so we could probably do with a bit of that. She joined just part time to fill in for someone, and the first week we were just clashing high, massive arguments. Why is it so chaotic? Why is it so chaotic? And I said, I was like, Babe, that's just agency life, you have to get used to it. And there was maybe a slither of truth in what I was saying, but for the most part it was because I was running it with my ADHD brain. And my second in command was also a creative and further along on that kind of spectrum, let's say. And we were going around putting out fires in a very charming way. We're very good at putting out fires, but rather than preempting them, rather than building process, right? And there were loads of parts of the business that I just wouldn't even look at, like finances. My brain wasn't interested. I wasn't interested in that. I was interested in the big ideas, the schmoozing, the charming, that kind of stuff. And there were holes, there were gaping holes in business, which I didn't even see at the time because my brain was kind of and I was closed off to it, I didn't want to see it. So things like money owed, right, I thought was money in the bank and there was debt, right? There were people owed us money and I was like, oh, yeah, they'll pay it, it's fine. And I didn't want to chase them up because I wasn't interested in the invoicing and things like that. So gaping holes which my wife discovered and she kind of naturally lent into that side of the business. What happened was the became the integrator and I was the visionary. And it actually worked really well after we got past the blazing rouse and kind of found our strengths and kind of limitations. And she helped me really understand where mine were and are. And she kind of obviously knows me on a personal level. So kind of it made a lot of sense. She started together with me building structure for the business, like processes lasering on the building process and making sure that we follow through and those processes are followed through. And gradually what happened was we built structure and then we started to grow that's properly. When we started growing as an agency, we've hit 40% growth since then and we're kind of approaching the 2 million mark now. I owe a lot of that to having someone like NIT Sam, Marga Hart and her very different kind of brain complementing.

Peter Shankman [00:09:46]:  Let me interrupt you for a second because that actually brings up a really interesting point. You work and partner with someone both personally and professionally yes.

Konrad Sanders [00:09:55]: Right.

Peter Shankman [00:09:55]: Who has the complete opposite brain that you do. I think there is not a listener in this podcast who doesn't want to know five ways to make that work, because that is not easy. Forget about just one. Like living with someone with a different brain or working with someone with a different brain and you've chosen to do both things. And the fact that your partner hasn't thrown themselves out of a window yet is when you're ADHD it is difficult. We don't often talk about how difficult it can be for the other person.

Konrad Sanders [00:10:34]: Yeah.

Peter Shankman [00:10:34]:  So tell us what makes it work?

Konrad Sanders [00:10:38]:  I think that's a great point to make. And I write LinkedIn posts about my ADHD quite a lot and I actually wanted to write one specifically on that. There's a lot of neurodiversity awareness at the moment, which is brilliant and it's great. And I almost want to do kind of partners of people who have neurodiversity awareness because yeah, and you said, like, she hasn't thrown herself out of a window yet. But I'll be honest, it's come close to that. But again, both based on our work life and personal life and often they're kind of woven into each other naturally. So how have we avoided that? I think, first of all, awareness of how my brain works. I did get diagnosed a couple of years ago. That made a big difference, even for myself, because in terms of understanding really where those we knew where the limitations were. We knew what I wasn't good at. Right. But there wasn't an explanation. And I think you know as to why. And I think when you understand why and I am on medication, and that's definitely helped. I also have ADHD coaching and that's really helped as well because it's someone else who's an accountability partner rather than just my partner in my personal life that's been really crucial and it's really been life changing for me having an ADHD coach because at work we built these processes, right? So there's something about building a business where even with my ADHD brain I really wanted to succeed. I know process is important and I know than following is important as much as my brain doesn't want to. And we have just this lean management approach, we take this agile approach based on like Gemba Kaizen, the Japanese business management philosophy where when there are hiccups, we call them Oopsies. Whenever there's something inefficient a hiccup, something has not quite gone wrong. Rather than blaming each other or blaming team members, we write it down on a slack thread and two weeks later we tackle it in this level ten meeting where we look at the problem, what was the root of the problem, how do we then preempt that issue for next time? Let's work it into a process and who in the team is going to take care of that? Two weeks later it's done, right? So it's this very very lean approach to kind of we call it the quest for perfection. You can ever be perfect bu if you're on that quest, it really really helps. And that was something we installed quite early. And I think that back to your question. I think that's one of the ways where we've perhaps avoided killing each other because we have this approach to business where if something's gone wrong and it might have been caused by me and it might be caused by something that hasn't been conducive to how my brain works, but it's written down and we tackle it and we think about what's the process that would be good for avoiding that. So I'll give you an example back in the day, for many years I'm in charge of getting the business in, right? Nita is in charge of making sure we deliver, you know, great results essentially to simplify it. And back in the day I used to do the proposals and a proposal is a project that has many different parts and that is not good. I'm not great at doing that, especially when it comes to time management, way, way too optimistic and also I would hyper focus on the wrong things, right? My brain wouldn't want to write the proposal, I'd be sitting there spending I could spend 4 hours adjusting the design of one slide because I like how things look and I wanted to look perfect and I'd hyper focus and what would happen is I would spend many evenings literally like until three or 04:00 A.m. Working on proposals and burning out and it wasn't good, but I thought oh, it's just because it had to take that long and there was the deadline tomorrow, there's no two ways about it and the other team members perhaps are not doing the right thing. I'm really pedantic and I have to kind of go in and change things. When we kind of took this much more process driven, agile approach to kind of uncovering why, what's going wrong and why and what's the root of the problem. One kind of look at it from Nitsang going in and looking than process the could uncover those holes and realize right there's A, B and C, there's this issue, we don't have a good process and Conrad is not great at doing that. So let's give it to another team member and then jump on a meeting with me and I will go through it and do you see what I mean? We created structure and process whereby the bits that I'm not good at, we're delegating and bringing me at the right time. And it was again, life changing transformative for the business and really, really crucial. So that's definitely one of the ways I say is like taking this, I mean, Gemba Kaisen is this book. I recommend this approach to business, which I think is probably one of the main ways which has helped us in our work life, really play to our strengths and really build structure that works not just for me, but other team members too. And in our private life, I'll be honest, that took a lot longer, right? That's where I feel like up until recently, even at work, I've been really good. Great at work, great at what I do. And we built this structure where I can really ADHD has superpowers as well, right. The amount of ideas I have kind of really brilliant just to blow my trumpet, like brilliant ideas in terms of branding and marketing and what we can do to kind of drive those forward, but the limitations as well. But I feel like I've been doing really well at work and then suddenly when it comes to after work hours, it all goes out the window. I don't have that structure, it's just this big void. And yeah, it has been difficult relationship wise because Nitzan traditionally has taken on way more than me. It's been very one sided relationship outside of work. She books the holidays, she plans them. Like when it comes to cooking, she'll buy the ingredients and plan. And I would take kind of I'll cook on this day and the other, but I haven't prepared bu. It'll be 07:00 p.m.. I don't know. I haven't got the ingredients. I don't know what I'm going to cook. And it causes friction. And that's just one example of the kind of way that friction in a relationship.

Peter Shankman [00:17:22]: We try to keep these to 15 minutes because ADHD but tell people how we can find you and we'll definitely have you back.

Konrad Sanders [00:17:29]: Yeah, I go off on tangents.

Peter Shankman [00:17:31]: No, it's cool. I love it. I love it. I can relate.

Konrad Sanders [00:17:34]: Yeah. So find me. LinkedIn is the best place. I'd say. Comrade McKay. Sanders. S-A-N-D-E-R-S-I talk about ADHD on there. I talk about copywriting and content strategy, I talk about my agency journey. And, yeah, there's so much more to talk about, but as you know, I will go off on many different tangents and not be very succeed, but I hope there's been some value and some interesting interest there in what we've chatted about today.

Peter Shankman [00:18:02]: No question about it. Really appreciate it, guys. We're talking to Conrad Sanders. Really interesting stuff on how to survive ADHD. When your partner doesn't have it, you do, and you work with them as well. My God, that is just I can't even get over that. That's very impressive. We will definitely have you back, guys. Thanks for listening to Faster Than Normal- we love when you listen, we love when you comment. We love your emails. Send me a note, let me know how we're doing. The book The Boy with the Faster Brain continues to rocket the charts. We are thrilled for everyone who has purchased it. I am greatly appreciative. And we're changing the world about ADHD. One book and one podcast recording at a time. We'll be back next week in another episode. Have a great week. Stay safe, stay humble.

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Credits: You've been listening to the Faster Than Normal podcast. We're available on iTunes, Stitcher and Google play and of course at www.FasterThanNormal.com I'm your host, Peter Shankman and you can find me at shankman.com and @petershankman on all of the socials. If you like what you've heard, why not head over to your favorite podcast platform of choice and leave us a review, come more people who leave positive reviews, the more the podcast has shown, and the more people we can help understand that ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Opening and closing themes were composed and produced by Steven Byrom who also produces this podcast, and the opening introduction was recorded by Bernie Wagenblast. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next week! 

Having ADD or ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Hear from people all around the globe, from every walk of life, in every profession, from Rock Stars to CEOs, from Teachers to Politicians, who have learned how to unlock the gifts of their ADD and ADHD diagnosis, and use it to their personal and professional advantage, to build businesses, become millionaires, or simply better their lives.

Over the past month, we have been fortunate enough to be sponsored by Skylight Frame. [Check it out at: https://www.skylightframe.com]  And guys, if you need a calendar for your family, for your kids, if your kids are neurodiverse- look at skylightframe.com! You order it, you hang it on your wall. It connects to your WIFI. You import your calendars, you add chore lists. My daughter knows all her chores. She knows everything she has to do. There's no more fights, no more arguments. She looks at the chores. She does them. She clicks the little button, the little touch screen, and it means that she's done and she gets her Roblox cuz that pretty much is what kids exist on today under the age of 12. They exist on, on Robux and, and apparently high quality mac and cheese. Apparently, you know, regular mac and cheese that we ate as kids. No, that's not good enough anymore. Skyline Frame is awesome. Use code PeterShankman at checkout. That will give you up to $30 off. I love the thing. You can also throw up all your photos on it. Uh, so when you're not using the calendar, it just. Scrolls your entire life by you and it looks pretty cool. It's in our kitchen. When I wake up at two in the morning to go get some cold water, I see a photo of me and my daughter or my dog, or my late cat, NASA, and it's pretty awesome. Makes my night. So https://www.skylightframe.com code: PeterShankman up to 30 bucks off. You will not regret this. If you get it, send me a note, let me know that you have it, and uh, I'll send you a photo for it. All right, again thank you to Skylight Frame! Enter discount code:  PeterShankman for 10% off, up to $30 off https://www.skylightframe.com

Cortney Weinbaum (she/her) is the lead author of a new RAND Corporation report on Neurodiversity and National Security (link). She is a senior management scientist and senior national security researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think-tank in Washington, DC. She specializes in intelligence and space topics, and she has worked with the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense to improve policies, practices, and technologies. She has improved analytic and collection tradecraft; identified emerging technologies and their impact on space architectures, special operations, countering weapons of mass destruction, and intelligence; and examined new workforce models for intelligence agencies. The study:  https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1875-1.html

I am beyond excited that this study and research are basically backing up IN WRITING so many of the things we’ve been saying for almost THREE HUNDRED EPISODES!! We’re definitely asking Cortney Weinbaum back!  Enjoy and listen up!

00:40 - Thank you so much for listening and for subscribing!

Thank you Skylight Frame - Get your coupon now! 

https://www.skylightframe.com Discount Code: PeterShankman for 10% off, up to $30 off

01:45 - Introducing and welcome Cortney Weinbaum!! Ref:  What is RAND anyway & why does it matter?

03:30 - I want to talk to you about the recommendations you and your team have made on this incredible research report. But first of all, what prompted this?

04:40-  I love that Rand was so open and wanted you to do this, and you got no pushback or feedback or anything like that?

05:00 -  Explaining to companies & governments how interviewing neurodivergent job candidates is a benefit to all, even your talent pool! 

06:00 - Combatting prejudice, discrimination, and bias with the Neurodiverse

Ed:  [this part right here]

07:48 - “You're the first person I've ever met like me who's successful”

08:40 -  “Two female civilian intelligence officers both came up to me.. from different agencies, and they said they both identify as autistic in their own workplace…We both face bias and discrimination for this. Ironically, they never met each other until that day”

09:54 - Within the US government, neurodivergent diagnosis are treated as a Disability.

11:54 - The Catch 22 paradox.

15:30 - The US national security community isn't taking a position yet they're not saying we're neurodiverse friendly or we're not. They're more, maybe neurodiverse ignorant at this point. And that ignorance is changing for sure.. one organization, one office at a time..

17:51 - I want to touch on a few more recommendations

18:42 - This is why we say don't treat it, (or ADHD), as disability..

20:16 -  How do our spectacular subscribers find out more about you?  So, yeah, if people want to post or write to me, I say that anyone who doesn't sound like a troll, I will respond to.

Web:  https://www.rand.org/about/people/w/weinbaum_cortney.html

Socials: @cortney_dc on Twitter. @cortneywdc on Instagram,  LinkedIn,  Mastodon it says. “I’m on everything except Facebook” 

20:30 - Thank you so much for making time for all of us today Cortney!

21:00 - Hey, you there! Yes YOU! We are thrilled that you are here & listening! 

ADHD and all forms of Neurodiversity are gifts, not curses. And by the way, if you haven't picked up The Boy with the Faster Brain yet, it is on Amazon and it is a number one bestseller in all categories. Click HERE or via https://amzn.to/3FcAKkI My link tree is here if you’re looking for something specific. https://linktr.ee/petershankman

16:40 - Faster Than Normal Podcast info & credits. Guys, as always thanks so much for subscribing! Faster Than Normal is for YOU! We want to know what you’d like to hear! Do you have a cool friend with a great story? We’d love to learn about, and from them. I'm www.petershankman.com and you can reach out anytime via email at peter@shankman.com or @petershankman on all of the socials. You can also find us at @FasterNormal on all of the socials. It really helps when you drop us a review on iTunes and of course, subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already! As you know, the more reviews we get, the more people we can reach. Help us to show the world that ADHD is a gift, not a curse! 

—

TRANSCRIPT via Castmagic.io and then corrected.. somewhat, (first trial run is today May 17, 2023):  

As always, thank you Skylight for sponsoring this episode as well as many others of the Faster Than Normal Podcast. https://www.skylightframe.com Discount Code:  PeterShankman for 10% off, up to $30 off.

Peter Shankman [00:00:40]:

Hey, everyone. Peter Shankman. Welcome to the Faster Than Normal Podcast episode number “Happy You’re Here!” We’re happy you're here as always!

It's a gorgeous Monday. We are recording on Monday. I try to do all my podcasts in one day a week, and I do all my zooms the same day. And basically, I just know that there's going to be one day where I'm be super productive and not that productive, and you get everything done, and then that way you can spend the rest of the week doing everything. That's been my ADHD sort of lifestyle going on, like, ten years now. It really does work. Anyway, big shout out to Skylight Frame. You guys have heard me talk about them before. Skylight Frame is this awesome little frame that hangs in my kitchen right over there. And it shows my calendar, and it shows my daughter her chores and her calendar and what she has to do for school and what she has to bring everything in one place. It's touchscreen. It's Skylightframe.com. Peter Shankman. The code Peter Shankman will get you $30 off. I love it. I can upload pictures of anything. My parents can send pictures to the frame. So if they instead of that's their new way of guilting me for not bringing the kid over. They only live three blocks from me. So their new way of guilting me for not bringing the kid over is to send me photos of themselves that show up my Sky Frame, where they're holding little signs and say, forget about us. Remember us. We miss our granddaughter, things like that. It's lovely. Lovely Jewish guilt via digital. Anyway, skylightframe.com use code peter Shankman and we thank them for sponsoring this episode of Faster than Normal. And guys, I am so stoked today because we have a wonderful woman who I just met named Cortney Weinbaum on the podcast today. Get this. She is the lead author of a new Rand Corporation report on neurodiversity and national security. Okay, that is huge. And you know what the key finding is? Neurodiversity, like other forms of diversity, can strengthen a national security organization. I feel like Vindicated, like, for the first time, this stuff that I've been shouting from the rooftops about companies and neurodiversity in the workplace and neurodiverse. Cortney, sitting here right now from Bethesda, Maryland, and has verified everything that I've been screaming for ten years. I'm, like, the happiest person. A Cortney, Welcome to festival. Ed: [that’s so funny- Castmagic.io thinks this is a festival.. well.. kind of it IS a festival, really.. but anyway, back to your transcript here- that has been corrected at least to this point by a human]. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you so much for taking the time.

Cortney  [00:02:43]: Oh, thank you for having me, and I love your enthusiasm!

Peter Shankman [00:02:46]:  Oh, my God. This came across my I don't remember who said this to me, but someone said to me that, you're going to love this. They're like, oh, my God, I am, like, so stoked about this. And we're going to talk about how you decided to do this study, but listen to this, guys. Neurodiversity, like other forms of diversity, can strengthen a national security organization within the US. Government. Neurodivergent diagnosis are treated as a disability and requiring employees to identify as disabled benefits those with severe needs, while stigmatizing employees who have spent decades overcoming the challenges of workplaces designed for neurotypical workers. Several aspects of the recruiting and hiring process can pose barriers to a neurodiverse workforce. And then, once on board, neurodiversion employees can face challenges, navigating careers and workplaces that were not designed for them in mind. So I want to talk to you about the recommendations you and your team have made on this incredible research report. But first of all, what prompted this?

Cortney  [00:03:38]:Wow. I want to unpack all of that in this episode with you. So what prompted this? A dear friend of mine who's the president of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance got together with one of her summer interns to write an op ed two years ago now on neurodiversity and intelligence. And my background is from the intelligence community. I joined the intelligence community very soon after 911, and that's how I entered National Security. And so when she and her intern called to interview me, it was like I got hit with a ton of bricks. Why hasn't anyone written about this before? And so I said, Send me that op ed as soon as it's done. And they did, and I took it inside Rand. For those listeners who aren't familiar with Rand, we're a nonprofit, nonpartisan, federally funded research center. I'm in our Washington, DC. Office, and I took that op ed inside Rand, and I said, we need to research this. There needs to be data about this topic. And I got an immediate gap. There was no hesitation at all. And so we got some project funding, and we did this study that you're looking at now.

Peter Shankman [00:04:40]: That is amazing. I love that Rand was so open and wanted you to do this, and you got no pushback or feedback or anything like that?

Cortney  [00:04:47]: None.

Peter Shankman [00:04:48]: And we're starting to see that now. I mean, the companies that I'm dealing with and I'm working with, adobe and Morgan Stanley and Google, they're understanding not only that neurodiversity is real, not only that neurodiversity is something that needs to be addressed, but that it can benefit companies tremendously. And that's the story screaming from the rooftop. So let's talk about the key findings. First, in terms of neurodiversity, like other forms of diversity, can strengthen a national security organization. So that the hardest part there is explaining to companies that that can be a thing, right? As opposed to companies look at it. Okay, something else we have to deal with. No, this can benefit.

Cortney  [00:05:22]: Absolutely. One of the questions that we were asked at the beginning of the study and then again at the end of the study were, but which jobs? Just tell me which jobs I should be opening to the neurodivergent candidates. And I'll flag those jobs as the one. And I'm laughing for those who can't see my face. And what we found out, what all of your listeners probably already know, is the answer is all of the jobs. And the way we make that point is I tell people this story, which is that when we started doing this research project, our goal was to talk to program managers, hiring managers. We were not trying to ask people to self identify as having a diagnosis and tell us about their experience. We didn't want to put at risk a population that's already at risk for prejudice, discrimination, and bias. So we weren't asking anyone about a diagnosis. But people started calling me. My phone started ringing by people who would say, I heard you're doing this study. I'm an intelligence officer, or I'm a military officer, and you need to interview me. I'm autistic. And I've never told the military that before. I got diagnosed outside the military health system so that there was no military record of my diagnosis. We heard all these personal stories so very early on. It was very clear that people with all of the Diagnoses we talk about in this report already are serving in the military, are serving as civilians in the entire national security enterprise, and that they're usually doing in a way that is masking, that is hiding whatever is their neurodivergent trait in order to fit in in their office so that they're not known. They describe themselves as living in the closet, like the LBGT community used to in the military. And that masking is exhausting, and it leads to burnout, and it prevents them from really leveraging the talents and the benefits of their conditions, but it also leads to burnout, exhaustion. It's psychologically draining all of the things. And so it creates this environment where the neurotypical employees and managers think, well, there's no one neurodivergent here. And it prevents us having role models that we can see with these diagnoses so that we can realize that, yeah, we actually should be making on ramps and making entry easier because our colleagues, who we really value, already have these diagnoses. So by having that community hide, it's a disservice to everyone. And so that's one of the first findings we had in this report, that.

Peter Shankman [00:07:48]: Last point about the fact that we're not being more public about it. I gave a talk last week to a bunch of hundred fifth graders in school in New Jersey, because my latest book is for kids called The Boy with the Faster Brain. And it's hard. I tear up every time I think about this. Fifth grader came to me at the end of the class, and his head was at the end of the talk. And as everyone else was leaving, his head was down. He didn't really mumbling. I'm like what? And he's like, it you're the first person I've ever met like me who's successful, and my heart, oh, my God, my heart.

Cortney  [00:08:27]: Oh, my gosh.

Peter Shankman [00:08:28]: Right? And it's like, we need why we.

Cortney  [00:08:30]: Do what we do.

Peter Shankman [00:08:31]: Oh, my God. We need to be telling these stories. We need to be telling these stories. And I'm so glad that you are.

Cortney  [00:08:40]: I have to give you one more example. We were at a conference. I mean, it was a small event, not massive, but it was a small event for neurodivergent service providers in the national security sector. So there are some please don't think there are none. And two female intelligence officers came up to me after I explained, I stood up, I said, I'm doing this project. If anyone wants to talk to me afterwards, come find me. And two female civilian intelligence officers both came up to me. They're from different agencies, and they said they both identify as autistic in their own workplaces. They're out of the closet, quote, unquote, in their workplaces as autistic. And they said, we need more of this. We need other people to be able to be out just like us. There's no one else that either of us could ever look up to. We both face bias and discrimination for this. Ironically, they never met each other until that day. They knew each other existed. I think they talked to emails, but this event was the first time they'd been in the same room, and it was really powerful. There are people who are trying to be role models, and they're doing it at cost. And we wanted to put this study out there to provide data and analysis and objective, unbiased data analysis on what is the benefits and what are those costs.

Peter Shankman [00:09:54]: That's amazing. I'm so glad you did this. So let's look at this. Within the US government, neurodivergent diagnosis are treated as a disability. And so my first reaction is, no, it's not. But I understand why that would be, right. You're looking at a lot of these things are based on 50, 67 year old rules or the Ada from 82. So talk to me about what you learned from that standpoint.

Cortney  [00:10:18]: Yeah, this was just eye opening, so I'm not a disability researcher. So a lot of this was new ground to me. If you want to get a job in the US government and you want to self identify as being disabled, any type of disability, you get what's called a schedule, a letter, from the Department of labor. Basically, you fill out a form, the department of labor gives you a letter called a Schedule A Letter. The schedule. A letter does not state your disability. It just says Mr. Smith has a severe disability and therefore qualifies for accommodation. That's all it says. It doesn't say what your disability is. You can be blind, you can be an amputee. Well, because of that process, no matter what your disability is, you're just identified as disabled and severely disabled. When government agencies are calculating data, we ask them, how many people do you have for neurodivergent your agency? And they said, I don't know, I can only give you my disability number. So the blind employees, the deaf employees, the amputees, and the autistic employees are all lumped in one category. So that was one finding. The second finding is that Schedule A Letter says severely disabled. And all the people we talk to don't identify as severely disabled. And they take deep personal offense at the idea that they should have to describe themselves as severely disabled just to wear noise canceling headphones in a classified room.

Peter Shankman [00:11:34]: Exactly.

Cortney  [00:11:35]: Or just to ask that the light bulb be taken out from over their desk, or that their desk be moved from the bullpen further away from the door so they don't hear the door every time it opens. These are like basic requests of a manager, but the government treats them as accommodations and if you want an accommodation, you must have a declaration of disability.

Peter Shankman [00:11:53]:Right?

Cortney  [00:11:54]: So we provide a few metaphors in the report and we call this the accommodations dilemma because it was like this whole catch 22 paradox. Cause you either declare yourself as disabled and all of a sudden you get all these benefits along with the risk of bias and discrimination, right? You don't declare yourself as disabled, don't worry about the bias and discrimination, but now you've got to cut it. And we said if you compare this to other diagnoses, and I use vision in the report as the example, I'm sitting here wearing eyeglasses, I'm near sighted. I am not disabled by any standard. I drive a car I can see perfectly with my eyeglasses on if I want to apply for military service or for a civilian job. I'm not considered disabled simply because I'm near sighted. Now, there's a point at which a vision diagnosis does become a disability, but it's a spectrum, and we know it's a spectrum and we know that simply having a vision diagnosis is not a binary yes you're disabled, or no you're not. For the government, having a neurodiverse divergent diagnosis is a binary yes or no. Whereas we all know, those who are in this community or researchers in this community, that it is a spectrum. There are some people with ADHD, autism and other diagnoses who do self identify as severely disabled and there's plenty who don't. And the government right now doesn't give people the option.

Peter Shankman [00:13:07]: What's interesting, I think another aspect of that is because it's government work, it's the premise that you can't just move your desk away from the door if you just want to. There has to be an accommodation for.

Cortney  [00:13:20]: It because someone else in the office is going to say, well, that's unfair. Why did they get to their desk? I want to be near the window.

Peter Shankman [00:13:26]: And I think that what companies are starting to realize is that those rules don't. I interviewed someone who was a boss once and I said, what are the neurodiversion aspects of how you're dealing? He goes, there are none. He goes, you get your work done. He goes, I do not care how you do it. You're not in junior high. You don't have to ask for a bad bathroom pass. Do whatever works for you as long as you're getting stuff done. And I think back to my first and only job I ever really had working for someone else was for America Online and under Steve Case back in the 90s in Virginia, right near you, Northern Virginia, they said the same thing. We don't care when you come in, right, work from a forest, just get your stuff done. And that was so amazing. And of course it screwed me because I thought, oh wow, this must be what the workforce is like. And my second job at a national magazine was, no, the hell it ain't. That was sort of a wake up call, but now there's no question about that. It is difficult if you have to constantly label yourself as only one thing or the other. I've never looked at this as a disability from my perspective. I understand I've had to write it down at some points for surveys or qualifications or things like that. But again, I don't qualify my ADHD as a disability. And the funny thing was, I remember growing up in school, in the New York City public schools, you could qualify for something called resource room, which would give you extra time on tests and allow you lots of different accommodations. To get there, though, you had to fall below a certain level in reading and in math. And because I loved reading, I was on a 12th grade level from first grade. Because I hated math, I qualified. But because I didn't qualify for both, I didn't get anything. So yes, there's a lot that needs to be addressed in that. Talk about for a second the concept of and I want to be constantly time, but we're definitely having you back, but the aspects of recruitment and hiring process, right? So there are companies now that I'm advising that are trying to create conversation, that they are more neurodiverse aware and that they are neurodiverse friendly. And is that not the case in government yet or how is that happening?

Cortney  [00:15:29]: Well, for the most part, the US national security community isn't taking a position yet they're not saying we're neurodiverse friendly or we're not. They're more maybe neurodiverse ignorant at this point. And that ignorance is changing for sure. But one organization, one office at a time, we're hoping this report can blow that door open. So what we did is we actually went through real government job vacancy postings and said, how is this worded today? And how might one word it differently? And there's actually a point in the report. We take a table. We take three or four job descriptions. And we wanted to make sure that these aren't very stereotypical job descriptions. We had people come to us say, oh yeah, I could hire people who are neurodivergent and they could be the cyber analyst in the corner who never have to speak to anyone. And so we made sure that the job descriptions we chose were not just like that person you put in the back corner who doesn't actually interact with people. We chose an accountant. Yes, a cyber operations officer. We chose a contracts officer. Contracting is a huge part of the national security workforce, and we chose some of these job descriptions. And then based on what we had learned from the commercial sector, we said, here's how you might do it differently. Sometimes it's just changing the wording. Like, instead of saying, demonstrate that you're an effective communicator. I don't know how to do that in a cover letter very well. Instead, we write it in a way that for someone who has trouble with nuance, who has trouble with interpretive language, who doesn't know how to do that, we'd be able to figure out what exactly is that they need to see from me. We took one of the job descriptions that was asking for financial analysis skills as the accounting position. And we said instead of all these things that they're asking the applicant to prove in a resume, instead let's interview this person by giving them a practical exercise, which is what some companies do, we email them a spreadsheet three days before the interview. The spreadsheet is fake financial data. We say to them, in three days, you're going to present your analysis to the hiring manager or a board of three people. Well, by doing that now, this person isn't worried about making eye contact and making sure they know how to answer the question of what do you want to get out of your career? Instead, you're really assessing this person on their financial analytic skills and their ability to convey analytic findings to a customer. That's probably all you really cared about in the first place. You didn't really care if they could make eye contact and shape your hand with a firm handshake. So we provide those kinds of really specific, tangible recommendations.

Peter Shankman [00:17:51]: I want to touch on a few of the more recommendations. We have a few minutes left. One of the ones that I saw immediately, and I love this, help all employees understand neurodiversity right and this goes back to what I've taught at some of the companies that I work with in the concept of curb cuts. I'm sure you know that is at the end of World War II, 600,000 US servicemen came home disabled. And every city and every town across the country put ramps at the at the corner of every block, make up the sidewalks, making curb cuts. And they wound up helping those 600,000 servicemen and also wound up helping pregnant women and people with boxes and children and people with strollers list goes on and on. So you help one group and it benefits all. So the concept of teaching, understanding university, go ahead. Yeah. Cortney  [00:18:42]: This is why we say don't treat it as disability. By putting ramps in buildings, you didn't just help the people who are disabled. Like you said, you help the Janet or push the card more effectively. So if you change your interview practices or your management practices in ways that provide clear communication to everyone, everyone will benefit from that. It's not just the few employees that have a diagnosis. And by the way, there's plenty of employees who are not diagnosed because they didn't have the availability to have a diagnosis. So it helps them, too. So, yeah, we wanted to make sure that the recommendations in here were really widely applicable. We heard from plenty of people we interviewed. It's one thing to give the neurodivergent employee the feedback that they need to be a better communicator, but did you also give the rest of the team the feedback that they need to be better communicators, too? And that's what we're talking about. Why is the whole burden on one person to be able to improve team wide communication? The burden shouldn't fall on one person's shoulders 100%.

Peter Shankman [00:19:41]: Courtney, I want to have you back again. I really appreciate you taking the time. I'm going to tell Meagan immediately that I want to have you back. I could talk about this for 6 hours. Maybe we'll break our rules and do like a 45 minutes version if you're up for it. But thank you so much for taking the time. And this research is available. Anyone can download it. It's at RAND.org under publication for free.

Cortney  [00:20:03]: It's for FREE!!!!

Peter Shankman [00:20:04]: That's the coolest thing. It's like, Here, have it. I'll put a link to where it is in the show notes. But again, if people want to find you, I mean, you're pretty easy to find. Do you mind if people contact you? Do you have a social account or.

Cortney  [00:20:16]: How can people yeah, I'm on Mastodon, I'm on Twitter. I'm on Instagram, LinkedIn. I'm on everything except Facebook. So, yeah, people want to post to me. I say that anyone who doesn't sound like a troll, I will respond to.

Peter Shankman [00:20:30]: Awesome. Cortney Weinbaum, thank you so much for taking the time. Really.

Cortney  [00:20:34]: Thanks for having me.

Peter Shankman [00:20:35]: Phenomenal. Most definitely. We'll be live in a few weeks. Guys, thank you for listening. Really appreciate your time. I love that you are still listening to Faster Than Normal. We are closing in on 300 episodes. How amazing is that? I've never been able to do anything 300 times in a row, so I am super excited about that. And we will be back next week with another interview with someone probably not as cool as Cortney, but we're going to try. Thank you again, everyone for listening. Cortney, thank you one more time. We will talk to you guys soon. Have a great day. Stay safe.
—

Credits: You've been listening to the Faster Than Normal podcast. We're available on iTunes, Stitcher and Google play and of course at www.FasterThanNormal.com I'm your host, Peter Shankman and you can find me at shankman.com and @petershankman on all of the socials. If you like what you've heard, why not head over to your favorite podcast platform of choice and leave us a review, come more people who leave positive reviews, the more the podcast has shown, and the more people we can help understand that ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Opening and closing themes were composed and produced by Steven Byrom who also produces this podcast, and the opening introduction was recorded by Bernie Wagenblast. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next week! 

Having ADD or ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Hear from people all around the globe, from every walk of life, in every profession, from Rock Stars to CEOs, from Teachers to Politicians, who have learned how to unlock the gifts of their ADD and ADHD diagnosis, and use it to their personal and professional advantage, to build businesses, become millionaires, or simply better their lives.

Over the past month, we have been fortunate enough to be sponsored by Skylight Frame. [Check it out at: https://www.skylightframe.com]  And guys, if you need a calendar for your family, for your kids, if your kids are neurodiverse- look at skylightframe.com! You order it, you hang it on your wall. It connects to your WIFI. You import your calendars, you add chore lists. My daughter knows all her chores. She knows everything she has to do. There's no more fights, no more arguments. She looks at the chores. She does them. She clicks the little button, the little touch screen, and it means that she's done and she gets her Roblox cuz that pretty much is what kids exist on today under the age of 12. They exist on, on Robux and, and apparently high quality mac and cheese. Apparently, you know, regular mac and cheese that we ate as kids. No, that's not good enough anymore. Skyline Frame is awesome. Use code PeterShankman at checkout. That will give you up to $30 off. I love the thing. You can also throw up all your photos on it. Uh, so when you're not using the calendar, it just. Scrolls your entire life by you and it looks pretty cool. It's in our kitchen. When I wake up at two in the morning to go get some cold water, I see a photo of me and my daughter or my dog, or my late cat, NASA, and it's pretty awesome. Makes my night. So https://www.skylightframe.com code: PeterShankman up to 30 bucks off. You will not regret this. If you get it, send me a note, let me know that you have it, and uh, I'll send you a photo for it. All right, again thank you to Skylight Frame! Enter discount code:  PeterShankman for 10% off, up to $30 off https://www.skylightframe.com

Our guest today is Stephanie Scheller. Stephanie has studied human psychology for more than a decade and built her first business from scratch to walk away from her job in less than five months. She has now worked with more than 5000+ companies and is dedicated to helping small business owners understand how to create their greatest impact. Using the violin to tap into the human subconscious, Stephanie breaks down the psychology behind business growth strategies and marketing that makes an impact to simplify implementation and accelerate growth. She is a TEDx speaker, a two-time best-selling author, an award-winning entrepreneur and the founder of Grow Disrupt, a company that designs and produces educational events for the ADHD small business owner! In her downtime, you'll find Stephanie playing on the violin, out in the Texas Hill Country with her horse, or in the garage painting endlessly. Enjoy!

00:40 - Thank you so much for listening and for subscribing!

Thank you Skylight Frame - Get your coupon now! 

https://www.skylightframe.com Discount Code: PeterShankman for 10% off, up to $30 off

01:45 - Introducing and welcome Stephanie Scheller!

03:04 - How long have you been playing violin?

04:30 - Is music and the Arts in general an ADHD brain booster?

04:45 - On unlocking your focus on what to do correctly!

05:20 - On having a plan for when you succeed.

05:53 - Peter’s T-shirt idea- …that was successful.

06:08 - When were you diagnosed, and how did that go?

07:20 - On ‘covering’ for your ADHD and building events that will keep us focused

08:15 - What are YOU doing to care for your ADHD?  [On Peter’s diagnosis/non-diagnosis] 

08:42 - What happens in your brain when you start playing violin? Has it always been easy?

12:00 - On finding your happy thing, and how it can completely change your life!

13:30 - What kinds of events are you doing, what kind of content and tools are you employing?

14:48 -  How do our spectacular subscribers find out more about you? 

Web:  www.GrowDisrupt.com and https://www.thestephaniescheller.com

Socials: @GrowDisrupt on Facebook  YouTube 

15:18 - Stephanie.. would you give us just a little taste of your violin, 48secs or so?

16:00 - Thank you so much for making time for all of us today Stephanie!

16:40 - Hey, you there! Yes YOU! We are thrilled that you are here & listening! 

ADHD and all forms of Neurodiversity are gifts, not curses. And by the way, if you haven't picked up The Boy with the Faster Brain yet, it is on Amazon and it is a number one bestseller in all categories. Click HERE or via https://amzn.to/3FcAKkI My link tree is here if you’re looking for something specific. https://linktr.ee/petershankman

16:40 - Faster Than Normal Podcast info & credits. Guys, as always thanks so much for subscribing! Faster Than Normal is for YOU! We want to know what you’d like to hear! Do you have a cool friend with a great story? We’d love to learn about, and from them. I'm www.petershankman.com and you can reach out anytime via email at peter@shankman.com or @petershankman on all of the socials. You can also find us at @FasterNormal on all of the socials. It really helps when you drop us a review on iTunes and of course, subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already! As you know, the more reviews we get, the more people we can reach. Help us to show the world that ADHD is a gift, not a curse! 

—

Having ADD or ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Hear from people all around the globe, from every walk of life, in every profession, from Rock Stars to CEOs, from Teachers to Politicians, who have learned how to unlock the gifts of their ADD and ADHD diagnosis, and use it to their personal and professional advantage, to build businesses, become millionaires, or simply better their lives.

Over the past month, we have been fortunate enough to be sponsored by Skylight Frame. [Check it out at: https://www.skylightframe.com]  And guys, if you need a calendar for your family, for your kids, if your kids are neurodiverse- look at skylightframe.com! You order it, you hang it on your wall. It connects to your WIFI. You import your calendars, you add chore lists. My daughter knows all her chores. She knows everything she has to do. There's no more fights, no more arguments. She looks at the chores. She does them. She clicks the little button, the little touch screen, and it means that she's done and she gets her Roblox cuz that pretty much is what kids exist on today under the age of 12. They exist on, on Robux and, and apparently high quality mac and cheese. Apparently, you know, regular mac and cheese that we ate as kids. No, that's not good enough anymore. Skyline Frame is awesome. Use code PeterShankman at checkout. That will give you up to $30 off. I love the thing. You can also throw up all your photos on it. Uh, so when you're not using the calendar, it just. Scrolls your entire life by you and it looks pretty cool. It's in our kitchen. When I wake up at two in the morning to go get some cold water, I see a photo of me and my daughter or my dog, or my late cat, NASA, and it's pretty awesome. Makes my night. So https://www.skylightframe.com code: PeterShankman up to 30 bucks off. You will not regret this. If you get it, send me a note, let me know that you have it, and uh, I'll send you a photo for it. All right, again thank you to Skylight Frame! Enter discount code:  PeterShankman for 10% off, up to $30 off https://www.skylightframe.com

Welcome to the month of May! So, there are a few things you cannot buy in life: One of them is Time and your Life. Therefore people's goal is to reclaim time and have peace of mind. For our guest today, Roy Smith, protecting others has always been his passion. An Executive Protection Specialist, Mr. Smith makes sure people come home after a busy workday, or a night out. His career in law enforcement has laid the foundation for his exceptional expertise in the security industry. His experience spans diverse roles. Roy worked with high-threat criminals - was a Gang Task Force Officer on the southern border of Texas. He was assigned to multiple Texas and Federal task forces to combat gangs, drug trafficking, etc. His goal at that time was to protect the community. Then Roy went into the Executive Protection field and graduated top of his class from one of the most renown academies in the US and won a prestigious award.

Security is not a luxury; it's a necessity. Roy Smith understands this principle and has dedicated his life to ensuring the safety and well-being of those he serves. As the CEO and Executive Protection Specialist at Viking Executive Protection Solutions and Owner and President of Viking Tactical Security Group, Roy offers top-tier concierge executive protection services to high net worth clients, and high-threat security to media networks, and at events as well as a School Guardian Program for children. In addition to personal security, Viking provides assessment and situational awareness classes to empower individuals with essential knowledge and skills. Don't miss this opportunity to hear from one of the industry's leading professionals and learn how Roy Smith and his team at Viking Executive Protection Solutions can help you stay safe and secure in an unpredictable world. Today we learn how to stay heads-up, especially since it is unbelievably easy for us neurodiverse individuals to lose situational awareness. Enjoy!

00:40 - Thank you so much for listening and for subscribing!

Thank you Skylight Frame - Get your coupon now! 

https://www.skylightframe.com Discount Code: PeterShankman for 10% off, up to $30 off

02:17 - Introducing and welcome Roy Smith!

03:36 - What is your company designed to do?

04:00 - Do you think there would be lower instances of crime if people were just more aware of their surroundings on a regular basis?

05:00 - Bad stuff can happen anywhere.. and you may not even be aware of all that you are not aware of! Especially when ‘safe’ in your routines & cyclic norms. #HeadOnASwivel

08:04 - Challenging our habit of going into ‘autopilot’ when we commute and…

08:31 - When you get home…

09:00 - How do you practice being aware of new/odd patterns in your daily?

10:00 - How do you not sit there and dwell, or worry about one detail being off, once you’ve noticed it?

10:53 - Let’s talk about personal safety in the post COVID era

11:06 - Not quite like Jason Bourne’s default training state but.. what basic things should we remember to always do when going to:  a restaurant, movie theater, baseball park, whatever?

12:18 - A couple of tips for travelers and event-goers awaiting the queue to shorten

14:19 - On the benefits of pet, (let alone well-trained pet), ownership; in public!

17:14 - How do you train your Neurodiverse, (or any), body to sort of not go into overdrive when something is happening? How do you use that dopamine and adrenaline to your advantage?

20:30 - On training your mind and body via live scenarios

20:45 - The benefits of using preparedness drills as part of your training

23:08 - How do our spectacular subscribers find out more about you? 

Telephone: (1+) 844-6-Viking aka: +1 (844) 684-5464

Web:  www.VikingEPS.com  email:  info @ vikingeps.com

Socials:  @viking_eps on INSTA and @ vikingeps on Facebook and Twitter

24:06 - Thank you so much for making time for all of us today Roy!

24:24 - You! Hey there! We are thrilled that you are here and listening! ADHD and all forms of Neurodiversity are gifts, not curses. And by the way, if you haven't picked up The Boy with the Faster Brain yet, it is on Amazon and it is a number one bestseller in all categories. Click HERE or via https://amzn.to/3FcAKkI My link tree is here if you’re looking for something specific. https://linktr.ee/petershankman

24:50 - Faster Than Normal Podcast info & credits. Guys, as always thanks so much for subscribing! Faster Than Normal is for YOU! We want to know what you’d like to hear! Do you have a cool friend with a great story? We’d love to learn about, and from them. I'm www.petershankman.com and you can reach out anytime via email at peter@shankman.com or @petershankman on all of the socials. You can also find us at @FasterNormal on all of the socials. It really helps when you drop us a review on iTunes and of course, subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already! As you know, the more reviews we get, the more people we can reach. Help us to show the world that ADHD is a gift, not a curse!