This episode tells the compelling story of Stephanie Hayes, a seasoned business strategist who has spent years immersed in the world of startups and small businesses.

She's known for helping entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of growth and plan for their future, including exit strategies. But there's another crucial layer to Stephanie's journey: her experience with ADHD.

For much of her life, Stephanie was a high performer, excelling in various fields, even while navigating certain types of work that felt like a "slog" or presented difficulties with initiation.

It wasn't until later, in 2021, that she received her ADHD diagnosis. This understanding brought a profound shift in perspective.

Today, Stephanie doesn't view her ADHD as a deficit, but rather as her superpower. She sees that the very traits often associated with ADHD – a need for stimulation and a love for solving problems – are powerful drivers in the entrepreneurial landscape.

The constant learning and overcoming challenges inherent in building a business resonate deeply with her. She has developed specific systems and found tools, like medication and even AI, that enable her to function effectively and channel this energy into productive work.

This episode delves into how embracing neurodivergence – understanding and leveraging how your unique brain works – can be a powerful business strategy. Stephanie highlights that for neurodivergent individuals, aligning their business with who they are is not just personally beneficial, but strategically smart.

Many of her clients also live with ADHD, finding common ground and shared understanding in this approach.

Join us for a down-to-earth and insightful conversation with Stephanie Hayes as she shares her personal journey, practical strategies, and the powerful belief that ADHD can indeed be an entrepreneurial superpower, unlocking potential when you learn to work with your brain, not against it, and truly embrace neurodivergence for success.

Diary of a ADHD Strategist | ♉ +📣 =👂🏽 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Well, listeners, what a conversation! I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Mariana Martinez Vampiew, a strategist whose energy really caught my eye recently.

Mariana's got this incredible blend of deep academic background – she's studied psychological studies, history, and education – coupled with powerful, real-world lived experience.

As she shared, she's even got a past in cabaret, which was fascinating to hear how it connects to talking to a camera.

I was curious about what drives her work. Mariana partnered with Fahim at narcissismexposed.com because they're both fellow survivors, and they're focused on helping people heal from all sorts of toxic relationships – not just romantic ones, but family, bosses, and friends too.

They're really aware that terms like "NPD" can get overused these days, so their focus is broader, looking at toxic people, relationship dynamics, and attachment disorders.

Now, the title of the Podcast episode was "ADHD and Narcissistic Patterns", and Mariana drew some really insightful parallels.

Having been diagnosed with ADHD herself later in life, after years of building coping mechanisms, she knows firsthand how varied the presentation of ADHD can be.

She explained how, much like ADHD, narcissistic traits aren't always the obvious "grandiose peacocks" you might imagine; there are also more covert, subtle "flavours".

We got into the heart of spotting those patterns. Mariana made a key distinction: someone with ADHD might share their own story when you share yours because they're genuinely trying to commiserate and show support.

But someone with narcissistic traits might share to "one up" you, making their story seem more important or using what you shared later. It's about the underlying motivation and the overall pattern.

She also spoke quite openly about the emotional side of things, sharing her own experience with ADHD and anxious attachment.

She explained how something like Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), which often comes with ADHD, can tie into those anxious attachment dynamics, especially when navigating potentially challenging relationship patterns.

It really is a "stew" sometimes, as she put it, but something you can work on.

One of the most practical takeaways was her advice on setting small, healthy boundaries early on in any relationship – work, friendship, or romantic.

It's not about testing people; it's just part of healthy interaction. But how they react – with guilt-tripping, anger, or dismissal versus simple disappointment – can be a huge indicator of potential unhealthy dynamics and whether it might be part of a pattern like love bombing.

She gave some clear examples, like needing to leave by a certain time or setting boundaries around uncomfortable topics.

Mariana's passion for this work is clear; she wants to use her experience and knowledge to help people heal and protect themselves.

They offer resources at different price points, from free content to one-on-one sessions, because they know toxic relationships can be financially draining too.

It was a conversation filled with insights, emphasizing the importance of recognizing those behaviour patterns, trusting your gut, but also allowing yourself to remain open to healthy connections.

If you want to learn more and find support, you can find Mariana and Fahim at narcissismexposed.com, or check out their YouTube and TikTok channels under the same name. They welcome feedback and ideas, too.

Diary of a ADHD Strategist | ♉ +📣 =👂🏽 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Mariana Details

Website: NarcissismExposed.com Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@narcissism.exposed?_t=ZN-8vYVHTP1PT4&_r=1 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NarcissismExposed-w9p Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/doads

I was truly excited for this solo podcast featuring the wonderful Sylvia Hall. It had been a while since my last solo show, but having Sylvia on made the wait worthwhile. We had such a great conversation!

Sylvia has a fascinating story. She described herself as someone who "waltzed out of the corporate world as an entrepreneur," and it's clear traditional 9-to-5 jobs weren't for her due to their lack of autonomy and heart.

She's built several successful businesses, most notably Lifted Naturals, her mood probiotic company that's been thriving for seven years. She also mentioned other ventures like Honeypot Publishing with its coloring books and gratitude journals, and she's currently launching her personal brand.

What impressed me about Sylvia is her perspective on working with others. She champions collaboration over competition, using that brilliant analogy of "ovens all around and there's more pies that we can bake." She doesn't believe in taking someone else's slice—instead, she's convinced there's enough for everyone.

We discussed how she balances everything, including her family and children, which have always been her priority. Her philosophy of "give from the overflow" truly resonated with me. She believes you must "fill your own cup first" to properly love and serve those around you.

In fact, she agreed with the idea that you need to be "selfish to actually be able to give because... you cannot give what you do not have."

Sylvia also shared her experience with her ADHD diagnosis, which came when her children were young—a time she described as both the "hardest time of my life and the most beautiful."

She talked about experiencing daydreaming as a child, apparently more common for women with ADHD. While she tried medications like Ritalin and Adderall, they weren't right for her due to her "highly sensitive nature."

She had strong reactions, going from "squirrels at a rave to ducks in a row," but with difficult side effects. This led her to embrace more natural management methods, which connects to her work with Lifted Naturals.

For managing overwhelm, Sylvia has effective strategies. She uses the phrase "outer calm is inner calm," meaning that organizing her physical space helps quiet her mind. She also uses "trigger music"—specific playlists she only listens to when needing to focus on writing.

Looking ahead, Sylvia is returning to helping people directly through her personal brand. She's focusing on digital products, beginning with a 10-day email challenge called "The Frequency Framework" designed to help people get unstuck.

She keeps communications brief because, as she noted, we have "information out the wazoo... We don't need more information but we could sure use a little transformation." Interestingly, she's intentionally moving away from social media for her personal brand, finding it something of a "brain drain."

If you'd like to connect with Sylvia, visit SylviaHall.com. For her supplements, check out lifted.naturals.com, and for coloring books and journals, look up Honeypot Publishing. All links will be in the description below.

Sylvia, thank you so much for your time—it was absolutely wonderful having you on the podcast. I felt we could have talked for hours! That's all for this episode, everyone. Sayonara!

Diary of a ADHD Strategist | ♉ +📣 =👂🏽 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.